Psychology - Gardner and Gardner - Procedure

Procedure

• Washoe was a wild-caught female infant chimpanzee who was approximately 8 - 14 moths old when she arrived at the Gardners lab.
• During the first few months, the focus of the research was on building a daily routine and relationships between Washoe and her several human 'companions', who cared for her in shifts.
• The Gardners reasoned that Washoe would only be likely to learn language if she interacted with others in the same way that a child does.
• Her human companions were to be friends and play mates and they were to introduce games and activites that would be likely to result in maximum interaction with Washoe.
• All the companions were able to use American Sign Language (ASL), and all communication was restricted to signing,'chattering' with Washoe extensively as one does with an…