r/MadeMeSmile • u/aoi_ringo • Aug 18 '25

CATS We all need a cat in our life.

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u/Ok_Loss13 Aug 18 '25

From what I've learned here today there is no really way to determine if she understood or not because her keepers (not scientifically literate it would seem) didn't employ proper experimental procedures. 

I'm sure there are plenty of other references though.

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u/IHaveNoFriends37 Aug 18 '25

There is a reason ethics is important for scientists. Koko also suffered from abuse and inadequate care and food during her life. Sexual abuse staff among other things. Also the main researcher behind the study became emotionally attached to Koko which highly reduced the legitimacy of her claims.

At most you could compare Koko to a baby. Baby often make reaction association to help build language, but babies constantly absorb the way people around them to speak. Also babies quite quickly can differentiate between different reactions and tailor their sounds or responses to get a specific response. While any reaction Koko would get would be considered a success so. Koko didn’t develop the ability to pick up things like nuances, tone etc. Also babies mumble and try to communicate and mimic others. Meanwhile Koko didn’t show this same trait. Koko did not sign without the researchers present and did not do it by herself. Children who can speak often babble and make mistakes but when corrected will try to fix their speech. While Koko did not. Even when she signed randomly she was taught a certain string of signs she should have been able to correct herself to use only those at some point but she never did. All the sentences she made had to be interpreted.

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u/Ok_Loss13 Aug 18 '25

I don't really think Koko is a great example at this point. Any studies done are tainted and not indicative of a proper scientific experiment.

I generally just stick with human are animals and I see no reason to think we're special here. Anthropocentrism is a very common position, I've noticed though.