Primatology, Ethics and Trauma offers a critical re-examination
of the research conducted into the linguistic capabilities of the Oklahoma
chimps and uncovers the historical reality of this research project without
fabrication. It has been 50 years since the first language experiments on
chimpanzees. Robert Ingersoll was one of the student researchers from 1975
to 1983. He is well known for being one of the main carers and best friend
of the chimpanzee, Nim Chimpsky, but there were other chimpanzees in the
University of Oklahoma's Institute for Primate Studies, including Washoe,
Moja, Kelly, Sherry, Booee, and Onan, who were taught sign language in the
quest to discover whether language is learned or innate in humans.
Ingersoll and Scarna shine light on how by definition this research failed
to address the emotional needs of the animals. Research into trauma has made
scientific advances since those studies. It is time to consider those
studies from a different perspective, taking a hard look at the neglect and
cruelty that was inflicted on those animals in the quest of psychological
study. This book re-examines those cases in this book, addressing directly
the suffering and traumatic experiences endured by the captive chimpanzees,
in particular the female chimpanzee, Washoe, and her resultant inability to
mother, leading to her killing her infant, Sequoyah.
The book discusses the unethical nature of the studies in the context of
recent research on trauma and offers a specific and direct psychological
message, proposing to finally close the door on the language side of these
chimpanzee studies. This book is novel, groundbreaking, and will be of
interest to academic, research, experimental, and clinical psychologists,
linguists, anthropologists, historians of science and primatologists, in
particular those involved or interested in primate sanctuary and
conservation.
Robert Ingersoll (BSc, MS) has been a tireless champion of captive
chimpanzees since the 1970s. He entered the world of primates as an
undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma's Institute for Primate
Studies, where the research focus was on cognition, language, and
inter-species communication between chimpanzees and humans, using American
Sign Language. He quickly came to see the chimpanzees as friends rather than
as research subjects. After several productive years, funding for the
program was cut by the University, and the chimpanzee colony was sold to a
medical research laboratory for invasive research. This led Robert to a
crusade to free his chimpanzee friends that has lasted decades.
Anna Scarnà (BSc. Hons, DPhil, PGCTHE, PGCert, CPsychol) is a psychologist
and neuroscientist with expertise in language, personality and psychological
disorders. Her DPhil was on the composition of the monolingual and bilingual
lexicon, and she explored the factors that affect object naming and reading.
She has conducted award-winning research into non-drug treatments for
dopamine in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia at Oxford University UK,
where she runs courses in Brain and Behaviour/Neuroscience, Personality, and
Psychological Disorders covering topics including personality traits,
addiction, and social behaviours. She teaches on various international
tutorial courses, has been running the popular Oxford University online
Introduction to Psychology course.
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