Deborah Fouts
Encyclopedia
Deborah Fouts is Director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
(CHCI). CHCI is the home of Washoe
, the first non-human to acquire a human language, and three other chimpanzees who use the signs of American Sign Language
to communicate with each other and their human caregivers. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology (Research) at Central Washington University
in Ellensburg, Washington.
The Foutses have been a part of Project Washoe since 1967. Project Washoe is the first and longest running project of its kind. Washoe was the very first nonhuman animal to acquire the rudiments of an otherwise fully complex human language, American Sign Language for the Deaf
(ASL). The project now focuses on the signing of its four sign language using chimpanzees who live together as a social group: Washoe
, Tatu, Dar and Loulis
. The chimpanzees use some of the signs of ASL
in their interactions with humans and with each other, to comment on their environment, but mostly to make requests, and sometimes answer questions and describe activities and objects. Loulis
acquired a total of about five signs from his adoptive mother Washoe
and the other chimpanzees, becoming the first chimpanzee to acquire five signs of a human language from chimpanzees thus demonstrating the ability of the chimpanzee to culturally transmit five signs of a language across generations.
Together the Foutses have more than 100 articles published in scientific journals and books. In 1981 they founded Friends of Washoe a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of chimpanzees. They have resided in Ellensburg since 1980 and with hundreds of students they have conducted their research and enriched the lives of the chimpanzees at Central Washington University
. In 1992 they founded at CWU
the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
(CHCI
), a sanctuary for chimpanzees. CHCI
is dedicated to the protection of chimpanzees, the education of students and public alike. Recent research at CHCI
has focused on the private signing of the chimpanzees, imaginary play and signing, chimpanzee to chimpanzee conversations, conversation repair, representational drawing, and the symbolic representation of spatial relations with ASL
signs as well as a comparison of gestural dialects in this population of captive chimpanzees and three populations of free-living chimpanzees. The Foutses are beginning a new research direction and will be studying four different free-living communities of chimpanzees in Africa to record and analyze their behavior for gestural dialects.
The Foutses are very active in their efforts to improve the living conditions and treatment of chimpanzees in captivity by developing and promoting humane care techniques and programs. In addition, they are active in efforts to protect the free-living chimpanzees in Africa. The Foutses played a role in the U. S. Fish and Wildlife, raising chimpanzees in Africa from "Threatened" to "Endangered" species status (see Endangered Species Act
). The Foutses are very active in the Sanctuary
movement to provide for chimpanzees used in and retired from the Air Force Space program and other biomedical research (see Animal Testing
). They are active as well in promoting basic rights for Great Apes, as founding members of, and signatory contributors to, the Great Ape Project
.
In 1997, Roger Fouts wrote Next of Kin a memoir of their lives with Washoe. It was selected by The Los Angeles Times as one of top 100 books of 1997.
Animal Welfare Society, Seattle, Washington, March 1989.
The 1992 Award of Recognition presented by the Performing Animals Welfare
Society, Sacramento, California, May 1992.
Associated Students of Central Washington University “Prominent Figure
Award”, for outstanding service to Central Washington Univ., 1991-92.
The 1996 Humane Achievement Award, presented by the Performing Animals
Welfare Society, Los Angeles, California, November 1996.
National Association of Biology Teachers Distinguished Service Award 2000,
Orlando, Florida.
The Chimfunshi Chimpanzee Sanctuary “PAL” Award for Chimpanzee
Conservation and Awareness, 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H. (1999). My brother’s keeper. In M. Rowe (Ed.) The way of compassion. New York: Stealth Technologies, 192-194
Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H. (1999). Chimpanzee sign language research. In P. Dolhinow & A. Fuentes (Eds.) The nonhuman primates. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., 252-256.
Fouts, D. H. & Fouts, R. S. (2000) Our emotional kin. In M. Bekoff (Ed.) The smile of a dolphin. New York: Discovery Books/ Random House, pp. 204–207.
Jensvold, M. L., Sanz, C., Fouts, R. S., & Fouts, D. H. (2001) Effect of enclosure size and complexity of the behaviors of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare, 4(1), 53-69.
Fouts, R. S., Fouts, D. H. and Waters, G. (2002). The ethics and efficacy of chimpanzees in HIV research. In A. Fuentes and L. Wolfe (Eds.). Conservation Implications of Human and Nonhuman Primate Interconnections. Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–60.
Fouts, R.S., Jensvold, M.L.A. & Fouts, D.H. (2002). Chimpanzee signing: Darwinian realities and Cartesian delusions. In M. Bekoff, C. Allen & G. Burghardt (Eds.) The cognitive animal: Empirical and theoretical perspectives in animal cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 654–672.
Fouts, R. & Fouts, D. (2005). Captive chimpanzees. In Andrew Linzey (Ed.) The international animal world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fouts, R.S., Fouts, D.H. & Waters, G. (2003) Wrist-walking: A candidate for a culturally transmitted communicative gesture). International Primatological Society Bulletin, 29(2), 9.
Fouts, R. & Fouts, D. (2003) Chimpanzees. In The great ape project census: Recognition for the uncounted. Portland, OR: GAP Books, pp. 31–34
Jensvold, M. L., Fouts, R. S., & Fouts, D. H. (2004). Assessment of species typical behaviours in captive chimpanzees. Animal Welfare, 13, S243.
Fouts, R. Jensvold, M.L., & Fouts, D. (2004) Talking chimpanzees. In M. Bekoff (Ed.) Encyclopedia of animal behavior. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Fouts, R., Jensvold, M.L., & Fouts, D. ( In press). Taking chimpanzees on their own terms: Thirty-five years of non-invasive research. In D. Herzing (Ed). Crossing interspecies boundaries. Temple University Press.
Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H. (2004). Primate language. In R. Gregory (Ed.), The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. CHCI is a sanctuary for three chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. CHCI's co-directors are Roger...
(CHCI). CHCI is the home of Washoe
Washoe (chimpanzee)
Washoe was a chimpanzee who was the first non-human to learn to communicate using American Sign Language, as part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition....
, the first non-human to acquire a human language, and three other chimpanzees who use the signs of American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
to communicate with each other and their human caregivers. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology (Research) at Central Washington University
Central Washington University
Central Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...
in Ellensburg, Washington.
Professional Background
Roger and Deborah Fouts are co-directors of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute.The Foutses have been a part of Project Washoe since 1967. Project Washoe is the first and longest running project of its kind. Washoe was the very first nonhuman animal to acquire the rudiments of an otherwise fully complex human language, American Sign Language for the Deaf
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
(ASL). The project now focuses on the signing of its four sign language using chimpanzees who live together as a social group: Washoe
Washoe (chimpanzee)
Washoe was a chimpanzee who was the first non-human to learn to communicate using American Sign Language, as part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition....
, Tatu, Dar and Loulis
Loulis
Loulis is a chimpanzee who has learned to communicate in American Sign Language.Loulis was named for two caregivers at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was born. After ten months at Yerkes, Loulis was transferred to Oklahoma with Roger Fouts and Washoe,...
. The chimpanzees use some of the signs of ASL
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
in their interactions with humans and with each other, to comment on their environment, but mostly to make requests, and sometimes answer questions and describe activities and objects. Loulis
Loulis
Loulis is a chimpanzee who has learned to communicate in American Sign Language.Loulis was named for two caregivers at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was born. After ten months at Yerkes, Loulis was transferred to Oklahoma with Roger Fouts and Washoe,...
acquired a total of about five signs from his adoptive mother Washoe
Washoe (chimpanzee)
Washoe was a chimpanzee who was the first non-human to learn to communicate using American Sign Language, as part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition....
and the other chimpanzees, becoming the first chimpanzee to acquire five signs of a human language from chimpanzees thus demonstrating the ability of the chimpanzee to culturally transmit five signs of a language across generations.
Together the Foutses have more than 100 articles published in scientific journals and books. In 1981 they founded Friends of Washoe a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of chimpanzees. They have resided in Ellensburg since 1980 and with hundreds of students they have conducted their research and enriched the lives of the chimpanzees at Central Washington University
Central Washington University
Central Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...
. In 1992 they founded at CWU
Central Washington University
Central Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...
the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. CHCI is a sanctuary for three chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. CHCI's co-directors are Roger...
(CHCI
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. CHCI is a sanctuary for three chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. CHCI's co-directors are Roger...
), a sanctuary for chimpanzees. CHCI
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. CHCI is a sanctuary for three chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. CHCI's co-directors are Roger...
is dedicated to the protection of chimpanzees, the education of students and public alike. Recent research at CHCI
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. CHCI is a sanctuary for three chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. CHCI's co-directors are Roger...
has focused on the private signing of the chimpanzees, imaginary play and signing, chimpanzee to chimpanzee conversations, conversation repair, representational drawing, and the symbolic representation of spatial relations with ASL
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
signs as well as a comparison of gestural dialects in this population of captive chimpanzees and three populations of free-living chimpanzees. The Foutses are beginning a new research direction and will be studying four different free-living communities of chimpanzees in Africa to record and analyze their behavior for gestural dialects.
The Foutses are very active in their efforts to improve the living conditions and treatment of chimpanzees in captivity by developing and promoting humane care techniques and programs. In addition, they are active in efforts to protect the free-living chimpanzees in Africa. The Foutses played a role in the U. S. Fish and Wildlife, raising chimpanzees in Africa from "Threatened" to "Endangered" species status (see Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
). The Foutses are very active in the Sanctuary
Animal sanctuary
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and be protected for the rest of their lives. Unlike animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek to place animals with individuals or groups, instead maintaining each animal until his or her natural death...
movement to provide for chimpanzees used in and retired from the Air Force Space program and other biomedical research (see Animal Testing
Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
). They are active as well in promoting basic rights for Great Apes, as founding members of, and signatory contributors to, the Great Ape Project
Great Ape Project
The Great Ape Project , founded in 1994, is an international organization of primatologists, anthropologists, ethicists, and other experts who advocate a United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes that would confer basic legal rights on non-human great apes: chimpanzees, bonobos,...
.
In 1997, Roger Fouts wrote Next of Kin a memoir of their lives with Washoe. It was selected by The Los Angeles Times as one of top 100 books of 1997.
Awards
The 1989 Recognition and Appreciation Award presented by the ProgressiveAnimal Welfare Society, Seattle, Washington, March 1989.
The 1992 Award of Recognition presented by the Performing Animals Welfare
Society, Sacramento, California, May 1992.
Associated Students of Central Washington University “Prominent Figure
Award”, for outstanding service to Central Washington Univ., 1991-92.
The 1996 Humane Achievement Award, presented by the Performing Animals
Welfare Society, Los Angeles, California, November 1996.
National Association of Biology Teachers Distinguished Service Award 2000,
Orlando, Florida.
The Chimfunshi Chimpanzee Sanctuary “PAL” Award for Chimpanzee
Conservation and Awareness, 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
Selected publications since 1998
Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H. (1998). Chimpanzees. In M. Bekoff & C. Meaney (Eds.) Encyclopedia of animal rights and animal welfare. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 105-107.Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H. (1999). My brother’s keeper. In M. Rowe (Ed.) The way of compassion. New York: Stealth Technologies, 192-194
Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H. (1999). Chimpanzee sign language research. In P. Dolhinow & A. Fuentes (Eds.) The nonhuman primates. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., 252-256.
Fouts, D. H. & Fouts, R. S. (2000) Our emotional kin. In M. Bekoff (Ed.) The smile of a dolphin. New York: Discovery Books/ Random House, pp. 204–207.
Jensvold, M. L., Sanz, C., Fouts, R. S., & Fouts, D. H. (2001) Effect of enclosure size and complexity of the behaviors of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare, 4(1), 53-69.
Fouts, R. S., Fouts, D. H. and Waters, G. (2002). The ethics and efficacy of chimpanzees in HIV research. In A. Fuentes and L. Wolfe (Eds.). Conservation Implications of Human and Nonhuman Primate Interconnections. Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–60.
Fouts, R.S., Jensvold, M.L.A. & Fouts, D.H. (2002). Chimpanzee signing: Darwinian realities and Cartesian delusions. In M. Bekoff, C. Allen & G. Burghardt (Eds.) The cognitive animal: Empirical and theoretical perspectives in animal cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 654–672.
Fouts, R. & Fouts, D. (2005). Captive chimpanzees. In Andrew Linzey (Ed.) The international animal world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fouts, R.S., Fouts, D.H. & Waters, G. (2003) Wrist-walking: A candidate for a culturally transmitted communicative gesture). International Primatological Society Bulletin, 29(2), 9.
Fouts, R. & Fouts, D. (2003) Chimpanzees. In The great ape project census: Recognition for the uncounted. Portland, OR: GAP Books, pp. 31–34
Jensvold, M. L., Fouts, R. S., & Fouts, D. H. (2004). Assessment of species typical behaviours in captive chimpanzees. Animal Welfare, 13, S243.
Fouts, R. Jensvold, M.L., & Fouts, D. (2004) Talking chimpanzees. In M. Bekoff (Ed.) Encyclopedia of animal behavior. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Fouts, R., Jensvold, M.L., & Fouts, D. ( In press). Taking chimpanzees on their own terms: Thirty-five years of non-invasive research. In D. Herzing (Ed). Crossing interspecies boundaries. Temple University Press.
Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H. (2004). Primate language. In R. Gregory (Ed.), The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
See also
- Chimpanzee and Human Communication InstituteChimpanzee and Human Communication InstituteThe Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. CHCI is a sanctuary for three chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. CHCI's co-directors are Roger...
- Washoe (chimpanzee)Washoe (chimpanzee)Washoe was a chimpanzee who was the first non-human to learn to communicate using American Sign Language, as part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition....
- LoulisLoulisLoulis is a chimpanzee who has learned to communicate in American Sign Language.Loulis was named for two caregivers at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was born. After ten months at Yerkes, Loulis was transferred to Oklahoma with Roger Fouts and Washoe,...
- Mary Lee JensvoldMary Lee JensvoldDr. Mary Lee Jensvold is the Associate Director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute . CHCI is the home of the chimpanzee Washoe, the first non-human to acquire a human language, and three other chimpanzees who use the signs of American Sign Language to communicate with one another...
- Roger FoutsRoger FoutsRoger S. Fouts is an American primate researcher. He is co-director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute in Washington, and a professor of psychology at the Central Washington University...