#13: The Ape and the Child (Comments)

"Very well-researched and delivered in an engaging, breezy, wink-wink tone similar to that of Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg's Why Do Men Have Nipples?, this will likely be enjoyed equally by science buffs and casual aficionados of the curious. One of the finest science/history bathroom books of all time."
-Kirkus Reviews

#13: The Ape and the Child

History contains numerous accounts of children raised by animals. The children in such cases often continue to act more animal than human, even when returned to human society. The psychologist Winthrop Kellogg wondered what would happen if the situation were reversed. What if an animal were raised by humans — as a human. Would it eventually act like a human?

To answer this question, in 1931 Kellogg brought a seven-month-old female chimpanzee named Gua into his home. He and his wife then proceeded to raise her as if she were human, treating her exactly the same as they treated their ten-month-old son Donald.

Donald and Gua played together. They were fed together. And the Kelloggs subjected them both to regular tests to track their development. One such test was the suspended cookie test, in which the Kelloggs timed how long it took their children to reach a cookie suspended by a string in the middle of the room.

Gua regularly performed better on such tests than Donald, but in terms of language acquisition she was a disappointment. Despite the Kelloggs's repeated efforts, the ability to speak eluded her. Disturbingly, it also seemed to be eluding Donald. Nine months into the experiment, his language skills weren't much better than Gua's. When he one day indicated he was hungry by imitating Gua's "food bark," the Kelloggs decided the experiment had gone far enough. Donald evidently needed some playmates of his own species. So on March 28, 1932 they shipped Gua back to the primate center. She was never heard from again.

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Total Comments: 26

Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.

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When I am president, I will find Gua and make him Secretary of State. Little Donald will be forced to cut the lawn in front of the Whitehouse with the other white folk.
Posted by Senator Barack Obama on Thu Jul 10, 2008 at 08:24 AM

I would love to try this statement in practice. Once I will have my own child will also adopt a small chimp and will see what happens. I am a biologist at school and for years have been wondering about animals' potential to mimicate human behavior.
Posted by Terry on Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 02:43 PM

Dobn't worry people, Gua's doing fine. She had a sex change operation and grew up to be preident George W. Bush, my husband.
Posted by Laura Bush on Thu Aug 28, 2008 at 10:39 AM

Ass orgy
Posted by Your mom on Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 09:50 PM

I find this experiment extremely cruel; and agree with all those who expressed this.

The psychologists used Gua, took her out of her habitat and raised her as "their own child" and treated her the same and then gave her up once they realized it could damage their son's language learining abilities.

Any concern for Gua? Is that psychology? Is there any understanding in psychology and what and who does it truly serve? It seems to me there is no compassion involved. They didn't even care to know about Gua. I, simply a reader feel for her and wonder about her fate. How can they have not been affected and come to have some emotional bond as people let alone "psychologists".

As for you ignorant hate mongers. Why don't you eat some shit? The president of the U.S.A. is BLACK. Remember and repeat it to your idiot selves few times. BLACK, yes BLACK.
and I am not black, I am just angered by superficial, empty brain idiots. There you go.
Posted by cindy on Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 05:07 PM

Not only do I find the racist comments here disturbing and annoying but how in this day and age where America has a president that is Black can people still not believe that all races are intellectually equal? It is sickening that some people are still that blind and pigheaded.
Posted by Jesse on Fri Jan 07, 2011 at 01:18 PM

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