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Communication is a systemic process in which people interact
with and through symbols to create and interpret meaning.
(Julia Wood)
DEFINITION
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Most humans acquiring
language utilize speechsounds, made up of an
utterance act and
illocutionary act, to express
meanings, but such soundsare not necessary, which is
evident by the deaf's ability
to communicate through signlanguage (Fromkin et al.,
1997).
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Conversely, when animalsproduce noises to
communicate and vocally
imitate human utterances, it
is not the same as having
the ability to communicate
through language (Fromkin
et al., 1997).
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Speech and language is a human
possession.
(ThomasScavel, 1998)
Supported by
Language derives from innately specified
language ability in human beings
(Noam Chomsky)
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LANGUAGE IS STRICTLY
RESERVED FOR HUMAN.
DO YOU AGREE??
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Developed by Charles Hockett
A list of features all of which are present in
human speech
Some of the features are present in other
animal communication systems There are also other means of
communication: pheremones, performances.
DESIGNFEATURESOF
(SPEE
CH)COMMUNI
CATION
SYSTEMS
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Hockett's 13 Design Features of
Language
Vocal-Auditory Channel
Broadcast transmission and directional
reception
Rapid Fading (transitoriness
Interchangeability
Total Feedback
Specialization
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Semanticity
Arbitrariness
Discreteness
Displacement
Productivity
Traditional Transmission
Duality of patterning
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DID HUMAN LANGUAGEEVOLVE FROM
AN ANIMALCOMMUNICATION
SYSTEM?
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Animal communication is any behaviour on the
part of one animal that has an effect on thecurrent or future behaviour of another animal.
The best known forms of communication
involve the display of distinctive body parts, ordistinctive bodily movements; often these
occur in combination, so a distinctive
movement acts to reveal or emphasise a
distinctive body part.
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Functions of communication
agonistic interaction: everything to do with
contests and aggression between individuals.
courtship rituals: signals made by members ofone sex to attract or maintain the attention of
potential mate.
ownership/territorial: signals used to claim or
defend a territory, food, or a mate.
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food-related signals: many animals make"food calls" that attract a mate, or offspring,or members of a social group generally to a
food source. alarm calls: signals made in the presence of a
threat from a predator, allowing all membersof a social group (and often members of otherspecies) to run for cover, or gather into agroup to reduce the risk of attack.
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metacommunications: signals that modify the
meaning of subsequent signals. The best
known example is theplay face in dogs, which
signals that a subsequent aggressive signal is
part of a play fight rather than a serious
aggressive episode.
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Interpretation of animal
communication
researchers regularly seem to find that animal
communication is often more complex and
subtle than previously believed, and that the
same gesture may have multiple distinct
meanings depending on context and other
behaviours.
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Excitement
Anticipation
Playfulness
Contentment/enjoyment
Relaxation or anxiety
Questioning another animal or a human as to intentions
Reassurance ("I'm hoping to be friendly, are you?")
Brief acknowledgement ("I hear you", or "I'm aware and
responsive if you want my attention") Statement of interest ("I want that (food/toy/activity), if
you're willing")
Uncertainty/apprehension
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FINAL
THOUGHTLewontin, Richard.1998. The evolution
of cognition:
questions we willnever answer. In An
Invitation to
Cognitive Science.
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Human language
and animal
communicationSAME OR DIFFERENT?
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Some characteristics of human
linguistic communication
Innate criticalperiod
Arbitrarycompositional
Structuredrecursive
Infinitedisplacedreference
Flexiblecreative
Systems with ALL
these properties are
termed language inthe narrow sense
(FLN, Hauser,
Chomsky and Fitch
2002).
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QUESTION:
DO ANIMAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
SHOW THESE PROPERTIES?
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WHERE SHOULD WELOOK?
Social animals
Large brains (relative to body size)
Our close relations
Visible or audible modalities
Accessible environments
Not too aggressive!
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SOME BRAIN FACTS
Birds: small cerebral cortex
Chimps: enlarged plenum temporale in L
hemisphere, sometimes assumed to be
associated with language
Whale : 11 lbs
Human: 14oz at birth to 46oz max.
BUT: Brain available after managing body:
amount, relative to body size, increases in
vertebrates and culminates in humans
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THE PATH TO LANGUAGE?
Fitch (various);Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch
2002
Larnyx in nasal cavity in most animals
except during vocalizing, when it moves to
oral cavity
Same true for human infants, but around 3
months moves to throat
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SIZE ENHANCEMENTHYPOTHESIS
Formant structure of vocalizations correlates
with vocal tract length and body size
Signals body size; evolutionarily adaptive
Lowering the larynx makes one sound larger. All
mammals do this during calling
Happens to facilitate speech production.
Humans keep it permanently low
In humans, larnyx moves even lower when
males reach puberty
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OTHER PREREQUISITES
The ability to imitate: humans, parrots,
songbirds, dolphins, but not much at all in
non-human primates
Conceptual-intentional system: rich in
primates, parrots
Theory of mind: controversial for apes
Ability to compute transitional probabilities:
cotton-top tamarins (Hauser, Newport and
Aslin 2001)
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BUTTHEY SEEM TO LACK
Collaborative engagement (including non-verbal, such as
pointing) (Tomasello)
Can learn numbers (Matsuzawa 1985) , but do not generalize to
the next number. Each new number takes as long to learn as the
first.
Fail to learn long-distance dependencies (Fitch and Hauser
2004) such as AnBn. Finite-state ABn OK.
Recursion is distinctively human, FLN (Hauser Chomsky and
Fitch)But cf Gentner and Hulse 2005
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HOW DO THEY DO?Innate: YES critical period: YES
Arbitrary:YES compositional:NOStructured:YES recursive:NO
Infinite:NO displaced reference:?
Flexible:? creative:NO
In our present state of knowledge, no species
other than our own has a system with all these
properties.
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WHAT MAKES HUMAN THINKING SO
UNIQUE?