Human & Animal Communication Flashcards
Who developed the design features of language?
Charles Hockett (1960)
What is interchangeability?
the concept that anyone can be a speaker or a listener of a language
What is semanticity?
symbols/gestures have an accepted meaning
What is arbitrariness?
there is no direct connection between a sign and the item if significance
What is discreetness?
there are separate units of communication
What is specialisation?
communication exists for its own sake
What is displacement?
talking about things that are not present
What is productivity?
creation of new messages from existing signs
What is duality of patterning?
combination of discrete units to create new signs/meanings
What is prevarication?
the ability to lie
What is reflexivity?
being able to use language to talk about language
What design features were added by Aitchison?
spontaneous usage
turn-taking
structure dependence
What is spontaneous usage?
using language out of choice, not just in reposes to a stimulus
What is turn-taking?
patterns of communication between interlocutors
What is structure dependence?
reliance on grammar to convey messages
How do honeybees communicate distance?
round dance; short
figure of 8 (sickle) dance; medium
waggle dance; long
How do honeybees communicate direction and quality of source?
direction; in terms of angle to the sun
quality; liveliness of dance
What design features do honeybees show?
arbitrariness; dance shapes about food source
displacement; food source not present
semanticity; dances have an accepted meaning
What design features do honeybees not show?
interchangeability; only forager bees
productivity; can only describe in the horizontal plane
duality of patterning; cannot combine dances to create new meanings
What design features do non-human primates generally not show?
spontaneity; symptomatic, usually in response to a stimulus
arbitrariness; largely indexical to point out a referent
How do vervet monkeys communicate?
eagle alarm; look up/hide in bushes
leopard alarm; climb trees
snake alarm; look around on ground
show prevarication
What abilities did Koko the gorilla show?
1000 ASL signs
2000 English words
novel thought communication; finger bracelet
prevarication
What abilities did Kanzi the bonobo show?
spontaneous lexigram use
some ASL (by watching Koko)
telegraphic speech (using lexigrams)
novel sentences
What abilities did Alex the parrot show?
spoke 150 English words knowledge of shape, colour, material maths skills meta-awareness prevarication
What abilities did Buzz & Dorris the dolphins show?
communication of abstract ideas to each other
- left and right
What do animal experiments tell us about their language abilities?
language training is possible
can only learn the the extent of a young child
cannot understand or use grammar
What are the problems with animal experiments?
cannot predict what language will occur in the wild
animals only respond to their trainer
users of ASL said Koko’s signing was largely uninterpretable
arguable that they are seeking reward not communication
