Primatology, Ethics and Trauma: The Oklahoma Chimpanzee Studies

Primatology, Ethics and Trauma offers an analytical re-examination of the research conducted into the linguistic abilities of the Oklahoma chimpanzees, uncovering the historical reality of the research. It has been 50 years since the first language experiments on chimpanzees. Robert Ingersoll was one of the researchers from 1975 to 1983. He is well known for being one of the main carers and best friend of the chimpanzee, Nim Chimpsky, but there were other chimpanzees in the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Primate Studies, including Washoe, Moja, Kelly, Booee, and Onan, who were taught sign language in the quest to discover whether language is learned or innate in humans. Antonina Anna Scarnà’s expertise in language acquisition and neuroscience offers a vehicle for critical evaluation of those studies.

Ingersoll and Scarnà investigate how this research failed to address the emotional needs of the animals. Research into trauma has made scientific advances since those studies. It is time to consider the research from a different perspective, examining the neglect and cruelty that was inflicted on those animals in the name of psychological science. This book re-examines those cases, addressing directly the suffering and traumatic experiences endured by the captive chimpanzees, in particular the female chimpanzee, Washoe, and her resultant inability to be a competent mother.

This book discusses the unethical nature of the studies in the context of recent research on trauma and offers a specific and direct psychological message, proposing to finally close the door on the language side of these chimpanzee studies. This book is a novel and groundbreaking account. It will be of interest to lay readers and academics alike. Those working as research, experimental, and clinical psychologists will find this book of interest, as will psychotherapists, linguists, anthropologists, historians of science and primatologists, as well as those involved in primate sanctuary and conservation.

Robert Ingersoll (BSc, MS)has been a tireless champion of captive chimpanzees since the 1970s. He entered the world of primates as an undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Primate Studies, where the research focus was on cognition, language, and inter-species communication between chimpanzees and humans, using American Sign Language. He quickly came to see the chimpanzees as friends rather than as research subjects. After several productive years, funding for the program was cut by the University, and the chimpanzee colony was sold to a medical research laboratory for invasive research. This led Robert to a crusade to free his chimpanzee friends that has lasted decades.

Anna Scarnà (BSc. Hons, DPhil, PGCTHE, PGCert, CPsychol) is a psychologist and neuroscientist with expertise in language, personality and psychological disorders. Her DPhil was on the composition of the monolingual and bilingual lexicon, and she explored the factors that affect object naming and reading. She has conducted award-winning research into non-drug treatments for dopamine in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia at Oxford University UK, where she runs courses in Brain and Behaviour/Neuroscience, Personality, and Psychological Disorders covering topics including personality traits, addiction, and social behaviours. She teaches on various international tutorial courses, has been running the popular Oxford University online Introduction to Psychology course.