Gabra Zachman

His latest book is titled Why Chimpanzees Can't Learn Language and Only Humans Can. He maintains that the animals in these studies were merely signing things in random sequence in the hopes of a reward. None of the animals got anywhere close to full grammatical sentences.

His latest book is titled Why Chimpanzees Can't Learn Language and Only Humans Can. He maintains that the animals in these studies were merely signing things in random sequence in the hopes of a reward. None of the animals got anywhere close to full grammatical sentences.

The longest sequence Nim ever signed, after years of confinement and training, was, "'Give orange me, give eat orange me, eat orange, give me eat orange, give me you.'" That, Terrace said, is not language. But not all scientists share Terrace's skepticism. We don't know if it's real. We don't know if it's stupid, unless we test it, says Irene Pepperberg, a research professor at Boston University.

The longest sequence Nim ever signed, after years of confinement and training, was, "'Give orange me, give eat orange me, eat orange, give me eat orange, give me you.'" That, Terrace said, is not language. But not all scientists share Terrace's skepticism. We don't know if it's real. We don't know if it's stupid, unless we test it, says Irene Pepperberg, a research professor at Boston University.

Pepperberg, now sometimes called the mother of avian cognition, is well-known in the field for her 30-year-long communication study with Alex, an African gray parrot. Pepperberg demonstrated that Alex asked questions, performed simple addition, and, in a few instances, coined neologisms.

Pepperberg, now sometimes called the mother of avian cognition, is well-known in the field for her 30-year-long communication study with Alex, an African gray parrot. Pepperberg demonstrated that Alex asked questions, performed simple addition, and, in a few instances, coined neologisms.

Partly because of Pepperberg's work, parrots are now widely recognized to have an intelligence roughly comparable to that of a five-year-old human child. Of Rosano's study, she said, I'd like to see data. I'd like to see what the animals are capable of. All these studies that we're doing in terms of looking at other animals' abilities, it's opening up a world to us.

Partly because of Pepperberg's work, parrots are now widely recognized to have an intelligence roughly comparable to that of a five-year-old human child. Of Rosano's study, she said, I'd like to see data. I'd like to see what the animals are capable of. All these studies that we're doing in terms of looking at other animals' abilities, it's opening up a world to us.

Rossano's next research questions will look at multiple word phrases, the ability to talk about things that aren't present, and emotions. He plans to take biometric measurements to determine whether a dog is physiologically calm when it presses happy and stressed when it presses worried. When it presses ball, does it mean one specific ball or any object in the abstract category of spherical toys?

Rossano's next research questions will look at multiple word phrases, the ability to talk about things that aren't present, and emotions. He plans to take biometric measurements to determine whether a dog is physiologically calm when it presses happy and stressed when it presses worried. When it presses ball, does it mean one specific ball or any object in the abstract category of spherical toys?

In the distant future, he imagines the possibility of testing episodic memory. Does your dog remember the time you took them camping? Rossano's most advanced inquiries will rely on the top-performing dogs in his study, the genius dogs, dogs like Bunny and Parker. Most dogs, like most humans, are just mediocre. Out of 10,000 dogs, Rossano estimates, about 65 use more than 100 buttons.

In the distant future, he imagines the possibility of testing episodic memory. Does your dog remember the time you took them camping? Rossano's most advanced inquiries will rely on the top-performing dogs in his study, the genius dogs, dogs like Bunny and Parker. Most dogs, like most humans, are just mediocre. Out of 10,000 dogs, Rossano estimates, about 65 use more than 100 buttons.

The median is 9. Ellie was turning out to be an average dog, button-wise. Her technique was basic but effective. In the afternoon, she would rouse herself from a nap and smash play over and over until I got up from my computer. She went through a period of insisting on more food after dinner. I assumed she was being greedy until I finally weighed her and found she'd lost six pounds.

The median is 9. Ellie was turning out to be an average dog, button-wise. Her technique was basic but effective. In the afternoon, she would rouse herself from a nap and smash play over and over until I got up from my computer. She went through a period of insisting on more food after dinner. I assumed she was being greedy until I finally weighed her and found she'd lost six pounds.

We moved apartments, and she started pressing outside, a button she rarely used before. I realized she wanted to sit on the stoop, a feature of our new place. During a thunderstorm late one night, Ellie got up, nervously whining, and paced the living room. She pressed each button in turn, again and again, unleashing a chaotic babble of tinny button words.

We moved apartments, and she started pressing outside, a button she rarely used before. I realized she wanted to sit on the stoop, a feature of our new place. During a thunderstorm late one night, Ellie got up, nervously whining, and paced the living room. She pressed each button in turn, again and again, unleashing a chaotic babble of tinny button words.

She was frantically trying to tell us... what... It was intolerable. Jesse got up and threw the buttons under the table. Rossano sent me a list of his colleagues in dog cognition research and where they fell on a spectrum from thinks we are okay to hates buttons.

She was frantically trying to tell us... what... It was intolerable. Jesse got up and threw the buttons under the table. Rossano sent me a list of his colleagues in dog cognition research and where they fell on a spectrum from thinks we are okay to hates buttons.

On the hates buttons end is Alexandra Horowitz, the head of a dog cognition lab at Barnard College and probably the most publicly known scientific voice on the subject of dogs. In the first chaotic weeks after adopting Ellie, I read her best-selling book, Inside of a Dog, in which she warns against assumptions like thinking your dog's kisses mean he loves you.

On the hates buttons end is Alexandra Horowitz, the head of a dog cognition lab at Barnard College and probably the most publicly known scientific voice on the subject of dogs. In the first chaotic weeks after adopting Ellie, I read her best-selling book, Inside of a Dog, in which she warns against assumptions like thinking your dog's kisses mean he loves you.