Experiment: Raising a Chimp As a Child

Winthrop Niles Kellogg (1898–1972) was an American psychologist best known for his 1933 study The Ape and the Child, which involved his observations of raising a chimpanzee infant along with his own son.

Kellogg and his wife Luella (d. 1972) took into their Florida home a female chimpanzee, Gua, from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Orange Park, Florida—seven and a half months old at the time their son, Donald (1930-1973), was 10 months old. Their purpose was to learn what similarities and differences would develop between Donald and Gua if they were treated alike in every detail and raised “as brother and sister.” The chimpanzee was dressed like an infant, in napkins and later in rompers. She was wheeled in a carriage, sat in a high chair, slept in a bed, and was kissed good night. No special effort was made to teach Gua spectacular stunts but rather to teach her the same kinds of things a fond parent would do with a baby girl. The experiment was carried on with a careful day-by-day record of observations, films, and tests for a period of nine months, from July 1931 to March 1932.

Gua was able to take on many human ways. She wore shoes and walked upright. She was able to eat with a spoon, drink out of a glass, and open doors before the boy acquired those abilities. She imitated human gestures and ways of showing affection like hugging and kissing Donald as well as the parents. Like most children she made a fuss when the “parents” went out and left them alone.

Nine months after the experiment started, the Kelloggs started witnessing a surprising development. Although they knew Gua wouldn’t be able to talk like a human, they did hope that the noises she produced would turn more human-like. They didn’t, however, take into account the possibility that the opposite would happen. And so, the Kelloggs suddenly realized that Donald was starting to mimic Gua’s sounds. When it became clear that he was copying her grunts and mannerisms, the experiment was abruptly called off and Gua was returned to Yerkes.

Gua died of pneumonia on December 21, 1933, less than a year after she left the Kelloggs family and just after turning three years old. Photo is from the Kellogg’s book, The Ape and the Child.