Effects of Human Familiarity and Use of American Sign Language (ASL) on Quantitative Sign Modulations of Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes )
Katelyn Seymour*; Mary Lee Jensvold, PhD Project Mentor(s): Mary Lee Jensvold, PhD
Cross-fostered chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) that acquired signs of American Sign Language (ASL) use sign modulations in signed interactions with humans. In this study, the researcher examined the effects of familiarity and use of ASL on four signing chimpanzees' modulations of signs. Three of the chimpanzees had been cross-fostered and acquired signs from human researchers. The fourth acquired signs from other chimpanzees. Modulations are modifications to the form of a sign that alter the sign’s meaning. They affect intensity and comprehension and vary across conversational contexts among human and chimpanzee signers. Quantitative modulations can occur through changes in size, speed or duration, and repetition of the sign. This study presented chimpanzees with human participants in one of four conditions: familiar-signer, familiar-nonsigner, unfamiliar-signer, and unfamiliar-nonsigner. The researcher used videos of the 4-min trials to code each chimpanzee sign for duration and reiteration information in the linguistic annotation software, ELAN. Notes about other quantitative modulations, such as holds and simultaneous signs, were also entered when observed. The only chimpanzee to participate in trials with all four conditions—Loulis—was also the only one to have any significant differences between any conditions. Loulis used longer durations of signs with familiar-nonsigners than with unfamiliar-signers. He also used significantly more iterations of signs with familiar-nonsigners than with familiar-signers. This study contributes to the understanding of how chimpanzees engage in social interactions and adds to our perception of their sensitivity to others. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation (May 20, 9:30am–5:00pm) Keywords: Chimpanzee, Communication, Familiarity, Quantitative Modulation, ASL SOURCE Form ID: 263
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