2) Animal Communication Flashcards
What is this the definition of:
A physical signal between a signaller and a receiver
(sight, sound, oder)
But cannot assume that neither people intend to portray or receive the signal
Communication (in animals)
Studies on Vervet monkeys show that they make different types of alarm calls towards predators.
Struhsaker (1967) did observations in Amboseli National Park (Kenya). He found 21 distinct messages with acoustic properties that represented what 3 major predators?
leopards, eagles, snakes
Other research:
also played alarm calls when no predator was around
= monkeys still responded.
Why is the Honeybee dance used in Bees?
Bees dance to alert others in the colony about the location of food
What are the long/ short term reasons animals communicate?
Long term – to survive and reproduce.
Short term – alarms, food, mate attraction.
It is important but might have a cost
(eg. bird call alerting a predator you are near)
Honeybee dance:
Turns in a circles to the left and then the right, continues to alternate for ~half a minute.
Other bees gather round then fly off.
They do this when food is how far away?
If Food sources < 100 m
Honeybee dance:
Waggles from side to side while running in a straight line.
Turns to left, returns to start of straight line.
Waggle run –> turns to the right.
Figure of eight .
Distance indicated by duration of waggle run.
Bearing indicated by the angle of the waggle run.
They do this when food is how far away?
If Food sources > 100 m
Evidence against the Honeybee dance in the late 1960s:
Wenner and Wells argued that Instead of the waggle dance, bees just use?
Bees just use odour.
Now:
Studies on transponders to measure bees flight paths toward unscented feeders (cannot use Oder as an explanation)
Found bees do use information on the distance/direction from the dance = Mechanical bee
Alarm calls in other animals:
Prairie dog alarm calls can only explain the behaviour of the signaller (caller) or receiver?
Receiver
Studies on Vervet monkeys show that they make different types of alarm calls towards predators.
Vervet monkeys (Cheney & Seyfarth)
Boy who cried wolf.
Played “other group of monkeys” wrr call.
First time, monkeys looked. After more calls, monkeys stopped looking .
Played “other group of monkeys” chutter.
Monkeys looked <2 seconds.
What is this evidence for?
Seem to extract the meaning (inhibition) from the call
– calls can be referential.
Alarm calls in other animals:
Meerkats have different alarm calls depending on the type of predator: aerial, terrestrial, recruitment (they find objects on the ground that they want others to come and look at.
What do the calls also include information about?
Level of urgency
If predator was close, high call urgency
What is this the definition of:
There is a meaning.
Language:
Semanticity
What is this the definition of:
Structured according to rules but can be used flexibly. Producing an infinite number of sentences with words.
Language:
Productivity
What is this the definition of:
Words usually randomly represent an event.
Language:
Arbitrariness of units
What is this the definition of:
Communication about events distant in time or space.
Language:
Displacement
Which 2 features of language is least present in animals:
Arbitrariness of units
Semanticity
Displacement
Productivity
Displacement
-Communication about events distant in time or space.
Lack referring to food sources which are not present at that time
Productivity
-Structured according to rules but can be used flexibly.
Animals communication tends to be fixed to an object/ event
The waggle dance in bees represents which of these language features:
Arbitrariness of units
Semanticity
Displacement
Productivity
Semanticity
Displacement
Productivity
Alarm calls by meerkats represent which of these language features:
Arbitrariness of units
Semanticity
Displacement
Productivity
Arbitrariness of units
Semanticity
Do alarm calls by meerkats have Arbitrariness of units
(words usually randomly represent an event)?
Yes
Animals can learn to perform actions that result in beneficial consequences such as food known as?
(operant conditioning).
Animals can learn about signals that predict the arrival of something important known as?
(classical conditioning).
We should explain behaviours using the most … process.
simple
Researchers are humans who unknowingly give off cues known as which effect?
(Clever Hans).
Teaching Human language: Apes INFO SLIDES
American Sign Language (ASL)
Gardner & Gardner (1969) Washoe (chimpanzee).
Moulding- Shaping hand into the correct sign and instrumental conditioning.
132 signs after 5 years.
including nouns (key, sweet).
pronouns (me, you).
verbs (tickle, open).
Limited evidence for combine signs: “water bird” for swan.
Nim Chimpsky: Terrace, Petitto, Sanders, and Bever (1979)
By the end of the project, Nim could:
Produce 125 signs.
Produce linear combinations (“utterances”). Limited
1.1 – 1.6 words combined.
A two-year old learns about 10 words every day.
Limited evidence for increasing with age.
Also he increased for the rewards
Teaching Apes: Visual symbols INFO SLIDE
Yerkish (Duane Rumbaugh)
Lana (chimpanzee) trained to use a keyboard.
Symbols (lexigrams) have symbolic value but are arbitrary (random words associated to object).
Sarah (chimpanzee; David Premack)
Plastic tokens, again arbitrary.
Rivas (2005) – studied sign use by chimpanzees.
86% were requests.
Showing lack of evidence for teaching our human language to animals
Sentences: Dolphins
Can they understand a combination of words?
Dolphin was trained to understand gestures.
Displaced reference tests: Find Object – before performing Action
What % was correct?
Semantically reversible sentences (69 sentences):
e.g., HOOP FETCH PIPE (go to hoop & take it to the pipe), PIPE FETCH HOOP (go to the pipe and take it to the hoop).
What % was correct?
81.4% correct
52.4% correct (0 reversal errors).
Thus showing support for sentence understanding
What information is conveyed by the waggle dance?
Flight time and distance
Presence of predators
Distance and direction
Direction and type of flowers
Distance and direction
Can apes learn human language?
NO
- we are looking at our own pov when analysing animals (bias)
aswell
