language thought and communication

Question 1

outline Von Frisch’s bee study (9s)

Answer 1

A: to describe dances of honey bees to understand their communication
M: -observed bees in their natural habitat

-sometimes changed their environment–>put food close to hive (10-20 meters) and far away (up to 300 meters)
-observed bees 6,000 times over 20 years
R: -bees tell each other where sources of pollen are
-round dance: moving in circle to show pollen is less than 100 meters away
-waggle dance: figure of eight shows the direction
-60% of bees went to sources at the distance indicated by the dances
C: sophisticated communication system

Question 2

Evaluate Von Frisch’s bee study (9s)

Answer 2

*valuable
P- important contribution to science
E- opened people’s eyes to the capabilities of animals
L- great scientific value

*sound=overlooked
P- importance of sound was overlooked
E- when the bees performed dances in silence, other bees wouldn’t go and investigate the food sources
L- the communication system may be more complex and might include sound based signals

*don’t always respond
P- bees don’t always respond to the waggle dance
E- bees wouldn’t use the info from the waggle dance when food was placed on a boat in the middle of a lake (bees may know instinctively that food won’t be found in the middle of water/may prefer not to)
L- may be other factors that affect communication; these aren’t investigated so the research is limited

Question 3

what are the 4 functions of animal communication?

Answer 3

• survival
• reproduction
• territory
• food

Question 4

why do animals communicate for survival
give an example of how

Answer 4

• to increase the animal’s survival of itself and it’s offspring
  eg.
  vocal signals: monkeys communicate danger with an alarm call (warns others to run/hide)
  visual signals: rabbits lift tail, pin ears back and leap forwards (signals danger to others when threatened)