Which of the following is not a reasonable criticism of research attempting to demonstrate language learning with nonhuman primates?
A) The animals' vocabularies are much less extensive than normal two- to three-year-old human children.
B) The animals' sentences are much less complicated than those of human children.
C) Judgments of what the animals are "saying" may be contaminated by experimenter bias.
D) The animals don't have a language acquisition device, so they can't really be learning language.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The argument that the animals don't have a language acquisition device and therefore can't learn language is not a reasonable criticism because it is based on the assumption that such a device is necessary for language learning. However, this assumption is not universally accepted and there is evidence to suggest that language learning can occur without a dedicated language acquisition device. Therefore, this criticism is not a valid reason to discount research on nonhuman primate language learning.

Which of the Following Is Not a Reasonable Criticism of Research