\doc\web\99\02\koko.txt




I don't believe that Koko was especially selected, so with a sample
size of 1, it's reasonable to believe she is most likely average, at
least in untrained "potential". You'd need to pull out 100 other
gorillas from the wild and train them similarly to get a better idea
of the range, but I suspect results would be similar.


From:           	SteveSlr@aol.com
Date sent:      	Sun, 7 Feb 1999 13:35:48 EST
To:             	arthurhu@halcyon.com
Subject:        	Koko the Gorilla


> My guess is that, like Yogi Bear, Koko is smarter than the average gorilla, a
> true genius, the smartest of, what, 1,000 great apes that have been studied to
> some extent. Koko might be four standard deviations smarter than the average
> gorilla. So, if the average gorilla has an IQ of 40 and a standard deviation
> of 10, then Koko would be at 80 (as ridiculous as applying such concepts to
> apes sounds). 
> 
> The subject of within-species variation in animal intelligence has not been
> studied enough. If you start asking people about the smartest pet they've ever
> had, you'll get some phenomenal anedotal evidence. The problem animals have is
> that their geniuses have a hard time passing down their insights and
> innovations to the others, although it does happen -- e.g., the bears in
> Yosemite Valley are engaged, like Yogi, in an intellectual arms race with the
> Forest Rangers. Each time the Park Service introduces a new closure device on
> food lockers, some bear figures it out within a few weeks, then teaches his
> friends and cubs and this knowhow rapidly spreads. However, that is fairly
> unusual for animals.
> 
> Anyway, back to humans, you are on to something. I'm always having
> conversations with people around 75-85 IQ where I learn from them something
> about a rather complex topic. I really doubt that Koko is capable of holding
> such detailed and well-thought out views about, say, whom the Bears (Chicago,
> not Yosemite) should draft. People are really, really smart compared to
> animals.
> 
> Interestingly, Arthur Jensen has found that for white children scoring 70 on
> their IQ tests tend to be obviously retarded, with the usual physical look of
> a retarded child, while most black kids scoring 70 appear to be perfectly
> normal kids. So, something is going on, but I don't know what.