Lecture 2 - Primate communication

Question 1

What are the 5 themes of language evolution?

Answer 1

1. communication flexibility = vocal learning
2. referential communication = semantics
3. call sequences = syntax
4. audience effects = intentionality
5. great ape gestures

Question 2

How did language evolve?

Answer 2

• vocal route e.g. monkey calls
• gestural route e.g. the way we use our hands to communicate
• could be both routes

Question 3

Communicative flexibility: vocal learning?

Answer 3

• learning to produce new sounds and vocally imitating are key aspects of human language
• whales have vocal ‘cultures’ and ‘dialects’ which individuals can learn and modify
• primates have limited capacities for vocal learning but they can readily learn and invent gestures

Question 4

Referential communication?

Answer 4

• rather than just cues to emotion some vocalisations can provide meaning about the world
• signals that refer to objects/ events in the world are considered an early form of semantic communication

Question 5

Referential alarm calls?

Answer 5

• studies by pioneers Seyfarth + Cheney
• found that monkeys have distinct alarm calls for different predators so that they can have a different strategy for each one
• these call sequences can be considered a basic form of syntax

Question 6

Bonobo food call sequence?

Answer 6

• they make different sounds based on different foods
• If they heard the kiwi sequence they were more likely to visit the kiwi patch and if they heard the apple sequence they were more likely to visit the apple patch

Question 7

Audience effects and intentionality?

Answer 7

• Chimpanzees are more likely to produce food calls when they think there friend is coming compared to when they think a random person is coming
• We intentionally adapt our signals to who we are talking too and are sensitive to our audience
• Crockford found that chimpanzees were more likely to inform ignorant group members about danger

Question 8

What is a gesture?

Answer 8

a discrete, mechanically ineffective body movement used to communicate intentionally

Question 9

Ape gestures?

Answer 9

• produced flexibly across many contexts
• can be learned, modified and invented
• show intentional control
• some gestures have specific meanings
• Hobaiter & Byrne 2014 found that wild chimpanzees use 66 gestures to intentionally communicate 19 meanings