In the 1930’s, a baby chimpanzee was raised as a sibling to a 10-month old infant. Winthrop Kellogg treated the the ape, Gua, as similarly as possible to his own son, Donald. They were dressed, bathed, fed, and taught in the same manner; they both wore diapers and shoes, had similar play toys, and both received a kiss goodnight.

Kellogg examined the effects of nature versus nurture on development. We discuss the tests and measures used to compare the cognitive and physical growth of the chimpanzee and the child. Tests ranged from harmless to unethical and dangerous.

While Gua the chimp developed quickly, Donald the baby actually started copying Gua’s behaviors, dragging his knuckles on the ground, barking when food was nearby, and even developing a type of language with Gua involving bark-like noises.

We also discuss Kellogg’s later research on dolphins and echolocation, highlighting the importance it had in the development of the Navy’s radar systems.

Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube.