Comparative Cognition

Question 1

Common themes of comparative cognition:

Answer 1

methodology: design procedure must be suited to species

use of objective measures: maintain objective measures of behaviour (do not anthropomorphise animals)

Question 2

Communication vs. Language

Traditional approach distinguishes between:
Animal communications involves:

Answer 2

Communication (what animals do)
Language (purely a human ability)

Production of signals
Reception of signals
Comprehension of meaning

Question 3

Differences between animal communication and human language

Reflexivity vs intentionality
Evidence of complex rules (e.g. grammar)

Answer 3

Animal communication is reflexive – communication is a immediate reaction, response that have no control over, communication is elicited by various environmental stimuli.

Human language is intentional – we can choose to communicate or not.

Question 4

Complex Rules:
Languages characterised by…
Structural grammatical rules important…
Animal communications…

Answer 4

the orderly use of grammatical rules
as word order in a sentence shows meaning
e.g. the dog chased the cat vs. the cat chased the dog
lack structural rules
e.g. alarm calls do not occur in a sentence

Question 5

Evidence for Complexity (Chickadees)
Identified orderly use of.... 
4 basic elements in their calls - A, B, C & D
Always strung together in... 
Some evidence that...

Answer 5

grammatical rules (i.e. structural rules)
same order although any element can be repeated or omitted:
animals use grammar

Question 6

Despite the complexity in naturally occurring animal communication there are still features missing that we find in human language:

Answer 6

Primarily for signalling purposes

No generation of novel phrases or conversation

Question 7

Teaching language to animals

Researchers attempted to teach various types of language to animals, for example:

Answer 7

Sign language
Language using visual tokens/symbols
Animals were usually primates (gorillas, chimpanzees).

Question 8

Early Attempts – Verbal Speech
Viki:
Attempted to teach her…
Learnt…

Answer 8

to generate human speech

3 words

Question 9

Sign Language
Washoe:
- 100 signs learnt (240 signs by age 27)

Nim:

• learned…
• could string 3 or more signs together to…

Answer 9

(i.e. could produce them and understand them).

125 signs
make primitive sentences

Question 10

Language Using Tokens
Sarah:
- use plastic shapes that varied in shape, colour, size and texture
- each shape served the function of a word
- could use about…

• created sentences by…
• had some…
• very rarely…

Answer 10

130 words

placing shapes vertically on a magnetic board
understanding of grammar/word order
initiated conversation

Question 11

Alex the Parrot

• Name…
• Say…
• Say…
• Showed some evidence of…

Answer 11

colour of object
if objects were same or not
how many objects
understanding concepts

Question 12

Elements of Language

(1) Symbolic – using arbitrary symbols
(2) Semantic – has meaning associated with it
3) Generative – new communications need to be possible from existing elements (novel)
(4) Structured – needs to follow grammatical rules

Answer 12

e.g. plastic symbols or hand gestures are arbitrary symbols that represent words (animal evidence)
e.g. show understanding of the meaning and representation of symbols (animal evidence)
less convincing evidence of this
less convincing evidence of this

Question 13

Animal Grammar

Inconsistency in... 
Very short sentences –
Very few spontaneous instances of language use
Redundancy/repetition – e.g. eat Nim eat 

Animals like Nim, Washoe and Sarah:
Rely heavily on... 
Can only learn... 

However..
failure of the training & testing procedures
not taught grammar
taught to respond not initiate

Answer 13

order of words expressed (no formal grammar)
while vocabulary becomes bigger with age, length of sentences do not

imitation
primitive grammatical rules

Question 14

Kanzi

• used hand gestures and symbols presented by keypads (called lexigrams)
• evidence of…

Answer 14

spontaneous language use that follows grammatical rules:

1) learnt to understand spoken words before he was trained to produce language (observed mother’s training)
2) displayed language acquisition before any formal training

Question 15

Features of Kanzi’s language use

1) Able to…
2) Most instances were…
3) Rarely repeated himself or…

Answer 15

string together symbols and gestures to express a wide variety of expressions
spontaneous (not reactive)
combined words that did not make sense together - i.e. used grammar

Question 16

Are non-humans capable of language?

• Many features previously thought to be unique to human language may not be
• Although the way animals use language may not be as complex as the way humans do, some of the underlying principles may be the same

Answer 16

Although vocabulary not as large or complex – these appear to be differences of quantity rather than quality
This is what you often find – we are looking for underlying principles that may show they use the same processes – e.g., learn the same way or remember the same way
So you are looking for patterns – e.g., learning curves, forgetting functions, etc…
However that doesn’t mean that animals will perform at the same level as us – e.g., they may have a shorter memory span or a smaller vocabulary, i.e., differences in quantity rather than quality