Ch. 1 - Animal Communication And Human Language Flashcards
Who are ethologists?
Scientists who study animal behavior
Communication
Behavior intended to influence another organism
Communication is usually studied with conspecifics. What are conspecifics?
Members of the same species
The Four F’s of Animal Communication
Food, Foe, Friend, FUCK (Find a mate)
Austrian ethnologist Karl von Frishc (1967) performed an experiment with honeybees in which he
Systematically changed locations of nectar sources and found that waggle dance conveys direction and distance information
The dance that is performed on a vertical surface of honeycombs displayed direction and distance. How?
The angle from vertical indicated angle from the sun, and the length of waggle correlates with distance from hive.
Alarm Calls
Warn conspecifics about approaching predators
Vervet Monkeys have three alarm calls:
“Eagle,” “Leopard,” “Snake”
Zuberbuhler, Cheney, & Seyfarth (1999) tested Diana monkey alarm calls. What was the baseline, test, and control?
Baseline: Played eagle cry, monkeys responded with eagle call; played eagle cry again, monkeys did not respond
Test: played eagle call, monkeys responded with eagle call; played eagle cry, monkeys did not respond
Control: played leopard call, monkeys responded with leopard call; played eagle cry, monkeys responded with eagle call
Dominance Hierarchy is the
Social system in which each member knows who ranks above and who ranks below
Examples of vocalizations in mother-infant bonding include
Rap pups emitting ultrasound when they fall from the nest
Human infants crying out for their mother
Social Grooming involves
Things like picking fleas and dirt from fur of conspecifics.
It builds friendships and is considered a form of communication because it influences other’s behavior
Males advertise their ____________ ____________ to attract mates. Examples?
Genetic prowess
Peacock feathers, bullfrog croaking, birdsong, firefly lights
Females also advertise ____________ _____________. Examples?
Sexual interest
Mating rituals, pheromones (scents)
General features of animal communication systems
- Limited range of expressions
- Holophrases
- Little ability to combine symbols to express novel ideas
- ALWAYS about here and now
Example of the limited range of expressions (general features of animal communication):
Velvets communicate about three different predators and nothing else
Example of holophrases (general features of animal communication):
Vocalizations or gestures refer to entire situations, not specific objects or events
Example of little ability to combine symbols to express novel ideas (general features of animal communication)
Bee dance combines direction and distance information, but nothing else
Example of ALWAYS about the here in now (general features of animal communication)
“Leopard” here and now, not “leopard” yesterday by the river
Laughter (1) evolved from ____________ ____________ of rough-and-tumble play, (2) means _____________ intent in both chimpanzees and humans, and (3) has typical features of a _________________ system.
Labored breathing; playful; communication
Laughter and language involves the same __________ _____________, so you can’t do both at the same time.
Vocal apparatus
Language communicates most of the content in an ________________.
Interaction
Laughter signals interest in _______________ the interaction.
Continuing
Sign languages are full-fledged languages ________________ of spoken languages.
Independent
What is primacy of speech referring to?
Virtually all language use is in the spoken mode
Three important features of language:
- Rules
- Structure
- Arbitrary Symbols
Animal communication systems may have some, but not ALL of these characteristics
1) Rules (3 important features of language)
Components are combined according to rules
2) Structure (3 important features of language)
Components are combined within a structure
3) Arbitrary Symbols (3 important features of language)
Words are symbols bearing no resemblance to what they refer to
(Ex. Nothing about the word “dog” resembles a dog)
Duality of Patterning is
A structuring process that:
1) takes units at a lower level
2) combines them according to rules
3) to form new units at a higher level
A small set of simple elements such as ____________ __________ can be combined to form more complex structures and gives language virtually limitless _______________.
Speech sounds; expressibility
What are the five elements of the pyramid scheme?
1) Phonemes
2) Phonology
3) Morphemes
4) Morphology
5) Words