42 year old Talking Chimp Dies

Okay, well maybe "talking" is a bit misleading, but Washoe, a chimpanzee was the first non-human to learn American Sign Language, and she died of natural causes earlier this week. Many of you may be thinking "wait a second, what about Koko?" Koko was a few years younger than Washoe, who was taken in by scientists in 1966. The scientists who studied Washoe had a very specific method by which a sign was entered into her vocabulary, but this (of course) is still disputed among scientists. Most notably by MIT linguist Noam Chomsky. The main argument of scientists that refute language use by non-humans is that they simply learn to use certain motions and/or noises to receive a reward, and that this is not a true acquisition of language. I have a hard time subscribing to that theory considering that the scientists at the Washoe Project attempted to make her learning environment as similar to a deaf child learning from its parents as possible. Also, Isn't observation the most vital portion of learning language? If a child were left, completely alone, with no contact at all, it wouldn't develop language. Not even Chomsky could argue that. So why are some scientists so quick to say that Washoe and Koko didn't know their 250 and 1,000 words respectively? Is it just too outlandish? Too revolutionary? Well pushawe to that says I. And much respect to the scientists who do this great work with primates, including those that give gorillas kittens. Article Here.