In and behind a Lenneberg paradigm

Abstract

Lenneberg suggested that a chimpanzee's linguistic ability could be tested by presenting sentences containing two prepositional phrases joined by a conjunction. This would involve joining two semantic propositions, and thus represents a more complex test of chimpanzee syntactic competence than previously attempted. Jane, a five year-old language trained chimpanzee, was tested on her ability to both produce and comprehend sentences involving a preposition (“in” or “behind”) and a conjunction (“and”). The results from production and comprehension were substantially the same. Jane showed the ability to appropriately deploy “and,” “behind” and “in,” but displayed very little flexibility in their use. It is suggested that a chimpanzee may be able to learn some rules of syntax but is not able to be creative with that syntax.