Dr. Rob Shumaker Scientist, Director of Orangutan Research Institute or University Great Ape Trust of Iowa

Great Ape Trust Research Program

Scientists at Great Ape Trust are exploring the abilities of orangutans to use symbols and syntax to express their thoughts. The orangutans are learning to use a symbol-based language that is presented on a computer monitor. The monitor screen has large "buttons" that are big enough for orangutan fingers.

The dictionary available on the monitor contains about 70 symbols. All symbols are abstract and have no visual relation to what they represent. There are seven categories of symbols, each containing ten individual symbols. The categories are: foods, non-food objects, proper names of people, proper names of orangutans, verbs, adjectives and arabic numbers.

Each category of symbols has its own specific exterior shape. For example, a rectangle alone means "food" and a circle alone means "non-food object." Individually, the interior components of each symbol are meaningless. It's the arrangement within the exterior shape that gives each symbol a specific meaning. In addition to the major categories, there are symbols that mean "send," "clear," "yes/good," and "no/wrong." The dictionary can be expanded as the orangutans learn more symbols.

In addition to the language project, additional research focuses on the acquisition, comprehension, and demonstration of numerical competencies in orangutans (Pongo spp.) and bonobos (Pan paniscus). Specific cognitive skills that will be investigated include quantity judgment, labeling of discrete quantities with Arabic numerals, and representation of the numerical abilities by means of the development of a token economy.

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Robert Shumaker joined Great Ape Trust as a scientist and the Director of Orangutan Research in 2003. Dr. Shumaker is an evolutionary biologist specializing in great ape cognition.

Formerly, Dr. Shumaker served as the Coordinator of the Orangutan Language Project (OLP) at the Smithsonian Institution National Zoological Park. Dr. Shumaker was also one of the designers and authors of the Think Tank Exhibit at the National Zoological Park.

Dr. Shumaker is the author of numerous scientific papers and books, including his most recent book Primates in Question.

Dr. Shumaker serves as advisor to both the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation - Indonesia (BOS) and the Orangutan Conservancy.

Dr. Shumaker is a Fellow of Drake University and also an External Research Associate at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University.

Dr. Shumaker received a Ph.D. in biology from George Mason University.

Professional Organizations

• Scientific Advisory Board, Balikpapan Orangutan Society, BOS-Indonesia
• Advisory Board, Orangutan Conservancy
• Professional Fellow, American Zoo & Aquarium Association
• Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Representative Publications

• Beck, B., Stoinski, T., Shumaker, R., Ross, S. & Perkins, L. (2005). Animals in Advertising.
• Communiqué, American Zoological and Aquarium Association, (May), 47-49.
• Shillito, D. J., Shumaker, R. W., Gallup, G. & Beck, B. B. (2005). Understanding Visual Barriers: Evidence for Level 1 Perspective Taking in an Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus). Animal Behaviour, (69), 679-687.
• Shumaker, R. W. & Swartz, K. B. (2004). “Mirror Self-Recognition” in Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior (Bekoff, M. ed.), pp. 308-312, Greenwood Publishing Group
• Shumaker, R. W. & Beck, B. B. (2003) Primates in Question: The Smithsonian Answer Book. Smithsonian Institution Press.
• Shumaker, R. W. & Beck, B. B. (2003) Primates in Question: The Smithsonian Answer Book. Smithsonian Institution Press.
• Shumaker, R. W. & Swartz, K. (2002) When Traditional Methodologies Fail: Cognitive Studies of Great Apes
• Shumaker, R. W., Beck, B. B., Palkovich, A. M., Guagnano, G. A., and Morowitz, H. (2001).
• Spontaneous Use of Magnitude Discrimination and Ordination by the Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), Journal of Comparative Psychology, 115(4), 1-7.