Lesson 9: Animal Communication Flashcards
Communication is ____.
Language is ____.
- something we do
- a tool we use
True or False:
Communication is a near universal of all living things.
True
What are 4 types of communication?
- visual communication
- auditory communication
- tactile communication
- chemical/olfactory communication
What was Clever Hans able to do?
answer intellectual questions by tapping out answers or shaking his head
How was Clever Hans debunked?
psychologist Pfungst found that Hans simply read the body movements, facial expressions, and heartbeats of the questioenr and audience
What was Alex the Parrot able to do?
used model/rival training model to teach Alex concept formation
True or False:
Alex the Parrot is an example of an animal acquiring human language.
False
Alex was not taught English; he was taught how to form concepts of English speech.
What are the 9 properties of human language?
- interchangeability
- cultural transmission
- arbitrariness
- duality of patterning
- displacement
- prevarication
- ambiguity
- productivity
- grammar
interchangeability
a user can both transmit and receive messages (both sexes)
cultural transmission
some aspect of a communciation system is learned from the environment
arbitrariness
arbitrary relaitonship between a linguistic form and its meaning
duality of patterning
smaller units can recombine into larger units
(ex: sounds –> words)
displacement
human language can talk about the past, present, future, and abstract concepts
prevarication
language can describe things that are not true/imaginary
ambiguity
words can have several different meanings
productivity
unlimited potential to express novel ideas
grammar
rules governing language
Why is studying primate communication important in determining of animals have language?
humans are primates
Vervet monkeys have ____ different alarm calls for different animals: ____
- 3
- leopard, eagle, snake
Which features of human language does the vervet monkey alarm call system exhibit?
- interchangeability
- arbitrariness
- prevarication
Which features of human language does the vervet monkey alarm call system not exhibit?
- duality of patterning
- ambiguity
Which features of human language could the vervet monkey alarm call system exhibit?
- displacement
- productivity
- cultural transmission
Why can’t chimpanzees produce human language?
their vocal tract makes speech production impossible because their larynx is much higher
True or False:
Washoe is an example of a primate that can use human sign language.
False
Washoe was not using ASL, and the data from the study is difficult to interpret.
True or False:
The Washoe project suggests it’s possible to teach a chimpanzee a substantial vocabulary of arbitrary signs with an associated meaning, but not command language.
True
Did Nim Chimpsky learn ASL?
No, because his signs utterances were mostly reactions or repetition.
Did Koko the Gorilla learn ASL?
No, because she did not produce any productive or innovative language.
True or False:
Although there is no evidence of animals gaining the abiliy to acquire human language, they can learn to associate referents to arbitrary signs and use signs spontaneously.
True
True or False:
Animals can acquire human language.
False
Language is species specific to humans.
