Please read it with an American Accent.
Washoe is a monkey. She lives in a lab. The lab is a place where men
and women study monkeys and other animals. They study the animals
to find out how they learn.
One day a man put a puzzle in Washoe’s cage. Washoe had to take
the puzzle apart. Each time she did it right, the man gave her a slice
of banana. That was her reward.
Washoe didn’t eat the banana slices. She just put them there.
The man made the puzzle harder. But Washoe soon learned how to
take it apart.
Then the man ran out of bananas. What now? Would she keep on
doing puzzles without a reward?
Washoe looked at him. She waited. The man gave her the next puzzle.
Washoe took it apart. Then she picked up a slice of banana. She
put it outside the cage for the man!
And so it went. The man would give Washoe a puzzle. And she would
give back a banana slice. She kept on until she had returned all the
bananas.
Washoe learned many new puzzles that day. And the man learned
something too. He learned that some monkeys don’t work puzzles
only to get food. They do puzzles for the fun of it -- just like you and
me!
