How do chimpanzees use sign language to ask questions?

What is it about?

In order to ask a question in American Sign Language (ASL), signers use a specific facial expression known as the Questioning Look (QL). Additionally, signers often hold their hands in place for longer than usual. Cross-fostered chimpanzees who use signs of ASL, do so in ways that are similar to human conversation, including question-answer exchanges. We used video data to compare the presence or absence of QL to the duration of the chimpanzees' signing and found that the chimpanzees follow a pattern similar to the way human signers ask questions.

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Photo by Julie Ricard on Unsplash

Photo by Julie Ricard on Unsplash