Koko-more

carina has replied to my updates regarding Koko, that “Koko creates and reuses compound signs for unfamiliar objects in her environment. Some of the more well-known examples are ‘white-tiger’ at the sight of a zebra and ‘finger-bracelet’ for a ring.” Once again, I confess my ignorance. Aren’t Koko’s gestures quite vague arm movements which could very well be interpreted by her handlers in the way that the handlers wish? Check out the similarities between “apple,” “because,” “browse,” “jealous,” “pink/shame,” and “tiger,” for instance. (And keep in mind that Koko’s signs are often expressed with jerky and quick motions so that signs that may have subtle differences can appear very similar.) If Koko can say “white tiger” when seeing a zebra, that would be interesting. But if Koko is saying “white jealous,” that’s a little bit less compelling. I’m not denying the conclusion flows from the evidence. I’m denying the evidence. carina appears to know much more about this than I do, but I’d like to see some more objective work addressing my concerns on that score.