Project Nim

When I was taking psychology 101, we were tasked with an animal metacognition research project. Metacognition is the ability to anylize our thoughts. In other words, to be aware of our existence and our selves in the world. While conducting research, I found a very special case of a primate. This primate's name was Koko. It's thought that Koko has been one of the few primates that has been able to master a certain degree of sign language. Many think its only a case of watching and repeating, but many experiments have been conducting to reinforce the idea that Koko can actually make her own decisions based on physical cues. A very interesting case, yet theres still not a clear answer among scientists as to weather any non-human species poceses

One reason that he states is that primates are able to understand humans and can communicate with them. They have the capacity to understand humans along with communicating with them. The strength of this reason is that it shows that primates can communicate with humans and can learn from them since they can understand humans. The weakness of this reason is that any animal can understand humans and some animals can speak languages, closer than what primates can do. There were three monkeys in the movie to show that primates have the capacity to

Many experiments with primates have shown that monkeys and apes are able to learn sign language in order to communicate. But they only learn it when hold captive, free-ranged animals do not use (sign) language to communicate (Hewes et al., 1973).

For example, imitation and teaching explain that chimpanzee’s may watch their mother doing actions academically (problem-solving) she never gives her young enough feedback or just a simple look to reinforce his observation. He concludes by explaining that humans have a preexisting capacity that allows them to represent what they imagine by combining human elements (language) while, animals clearly do not.

I interpret this scene as Alex being put in the same position he put his victims in. Eventually he becomes the victim and he cannot stand it .He later wakes up in the hospital after his suicide attempt and it is hinted at the end that Alex returned to his original abusive and violent

Language is perhaps the most concrete way of differentiating between humans and animals. Broca's area-- the center of the brain dedicated to processing speech and language in humans-- is larger in our species than in any other animal. Studies in childhood development have found that young children are able to assimilate language at an alarming rate when compared with other species. Young children start learning how to make vowel sounds and respond to their parents at five months of age and are able to produce basic words, as well as understand the concepts they represent, at around a year of age. We learn to speak before we learn to walk or eat on our own; clearly, language is an integral part of the human experience.

The origin of speech in Homo sapiens is controversial topic since the problem is related to humans' unprecedented use of the tongue, lips and vocal organs as instruments of communication. As we know, the other animals vocalize, but do not use the tongue to modulate sounds. The most interesting scenario about this evidence, with regards to human language evolution, is the lip-smacking. According to scientists, lip-smacking has been observed as the first step towards the evolution of speech, although it is a phenomenon common in every primate. The evolution of distinctively human speech capacities has become a distinct and in many ways separate area of scientific research. Many studies have been done throughout the history regarding the origins of human language. The article about the Gelada monkeys of

Prior to this moment, Alex is released from an experimental rehabilitation treatment to make him incapable of doing wrong. Alex has a solid commitment to the ideals of violence and has aesthetic pleasure he takes in his crimes. The delight he finds in classical music closely relates to the joy he feels during acts of violence and elevates his brutal behaviour. He believes evil represents a natural state for human beings. The State, who seeks to deny him of the decisions to act cruelly, encroaches on his freedom as a person. Thus, in choosing savagery, Alex ultimately affirms his sense of self. He never truly understands his entitlement. At the end of the treatment, he deprives the ability to make moral choices

The rarity of human uniqueness no longer exists in the thoughts of scientists believing that human ability skills lie within the construction and use of tools. As declared by Goodall in which chimpanzees used straight sticks after removing the leaves and branches to collect termites or ants for consumption. (Goodall, 1986) Other species both primate and non-primate demonstrate successful abilities., which include a sense of self as well as the theory of mind, by which other species recognize that other individuals contain different information than themselves. Different species also have the ability to communicate symbolically to one another through the sounds of vocalization. (Sapolsky R. M., 2006)

While in prison, Alex hears talk of an experimental aversion program that claims to brainwash criminals into despising violence. Criminals who undergo the treatment are released from prison, which is what motivates Alex to volunteer himself. But Alex's troubles in no way over when he returns to the grim society that he had a hand in building. When the film was released in 1971, it was done so uncut by the BBFC.

The claim, humans are the only animal that can acquire language has been the subject of much debate as scientists have investigated language use by non-human species. Researchers have taught apes, monkeys, parrots and wild children with various systems of human-like communication. Thus, one might ask, what is human language? According to Ulla Hedeager, A universally accepted definition of language or the criteria for its use does not exist. This is one of the reasons for the disagreement among scientists about whether non-human species can use a language. In nature, researchers find numerous types of communication systems, several of which appear to be unique to their possessors, and one of them is the language of the human species. Basically, the purpose of communication is the preservation, growth, and development of the species (Smith and Miller 1968:265). The ability to exchange information is shared by all communication systems, and a number of non-human systems share some features of human language. The fundamental difference between human and non-human communication is that animals are believed to react instinctively, in a stereotyped and predictable way. Generally, human behavior is under the voluntary control,

The government transforms him into a dehumanized object with “good” intentions. As Alex goes through the procedure, he faces with a struggle being unable to listen to classical music and gratify his sexual needs, which has the same effect on him as thinking about violence. In Part III, Chapter 4 after the procedure of conditioning, Alex visits a place called “HOME” and there he meets F. Alexander. They discuss the results of Ludovico’s Technique: “. . . They have turned you into something other than a human being.

Linguistics has impacted cognitive psychology as the quest to understand language acquisition and the structure of language itself is undertaken. Linguistics is a complex and multifaceted; it includes language structural patterns and language development (Barsalou, 2005). The process of language development is complicated and dense, as the study of language is examined; the role of cognition is inherently examined and analyzed. Sternberg (2006) also explores language as an innate process and presents the idea that humans are born ready for language as a biological and cognitive process.

“What makes us human?”, is an unanswered question asked by many. Is it because of our ability to have empathy for others? Or is it because of our cognitive ability which allows us to look into the future? One of the main arguments made that separates humans from animals is our communication style; our language. Is language inherently unique to human? To answer such a question, we first operationally define language as; “a system of communication based upon words and the combination of words into sentences” (University of Oslo). The purpose of language is for us to be able to convey an infinite amount of ideas to one another. Sign language in general also falls under this definition as it has a complex system of rules and syntax that allow the signed figures to function as words. Animal communication on the other hand, is operationally defined as, “the transmission of a signal from one animal to another such that the sender benefits, on average, from the response of the recipient” (Pearce 1987). With this in mind, current research has shown that the answer is that language is inherently unique to humans.

Of the many aspects distinguishing humans from other animals, language is probably the most fundamental; not only does it enable communication of ideas, opinions and emotions, it also provides us with many of the sophisticated cognitive faculties we associate with our superiority as a species. In examining the origins of language rather than attempting to determine how it functions, a more fundamental question arises of why language evolved. To investigate this question we must endeavour to find the original beneficial function of language that caused it to be naturally selected and further adapted. Conventionally, language was thought to have evolved as a faculty for exchanging information about the environment, such as planning hunts or