Toolkit 4 - Animal research Flashcards
What does testing animals as model organisms for cognitive function do?
Form hypotheses about cognitive function
Make inferences about cognitive function
Study brain systems
What faculties of human cognitive function is similar to animals?
Perception, Attention, Communication, Social cognition, Action cognition, Memory, Spatial cognition
What types of brain function can we look at in different species?
Localization of function (including causality)
Plasticity
Work division
Connectivity
Signal progression
Micro-level neuronal behaviour
General principles of brain functionality
Example of a cognitive psychology study with animals
Tolman’s congitive map experiments
What are some of the elements of psychology animal cognition is studied for?
Neurobiology
Developmental psychology
Ethology
Evolutionary psychology
What kind of animals are used in study of similarity to human language?
Elephants, dolphins, songbirds, mice, seals, sea lions, and bats
- language analogues are similar
Why is sign language used as an analogue?
since it solves the problem of vocal tract limitations but still has most properties of spoken language, such as:
- Signs are linearly produced
- Fixed relationship between sign & meaning
- Signs are discrete
- Signs can be infinitely combined
- Signs are rapid and fading
- Intent to communicate
What is an example of animals advancing in language?
Baboons learning to read
6 Baboons learned letter like pattern recognition and learned within 6 weeks to distinguish ‘words’ and ‘non-words’ in an artificial language created for them
What is an example of primates acquiring language?
Washoe and Nim Chimpsky
Washoe was the first non-human to learn to communicate using American Sign Language (ASL) as part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition
Washoe even started teaching her adoptive son Louis some signs and creatively signed to other chimpanzees capable of ASL
What happened with the control experiment with Nim Chimpsyky?
Nim Chimpsky was a failed replication attempt of the Washoe project
Nim was brought up in a sterile laboratory setting, only learned 125 signs and never used them creatively, only pragmatically
This project heavily criticized the Washoe project.
How are animal models used to research genetic and neural components of the human language faculty?
Mammals such as bats, whales and elephants use complex and varied vocalisations that share characteristics with human speech.
What is the songbird model for investigating language?
-genes linked to syntax & hierarchical processing of linear signals (song & speech)
- different dialects of the same species (indicates learning instead of innateness)
-candidate gene editing to test syntax and social components of gene contribution to communication
What is the bat model for investigating language?
-genes linked to signal decoding & social communication
- different communication modalities (complexity)
-candidate gene editing to test social components of gene contribution to communication
What is the mice model for investigating language?
-genes linked to vocal communication & organizing social interaction by vocal communication
-candidate gene editing to test social components of gene contribution to communication
What are the animal models used to test?
acoustic, syntactic, and genetic aspects of communication systems & generational transmission (teaching vs learning to offspring over generations)
What is an example of a human and animal gene that affects language function?
FOXP2 has been identified as a candidate gene for language function
It shows mutations in several speech and language disorders, including childhood apraxia (lack of tongue/lip/jaw motor control impairing speech).
Mice have an equivalent to the human FOXP2 gene and disruptions to this gene also lead to impairments in the learning of motor skills and sequencing of the ultrasonic vocalisations typical for mice communication
Such models enable us to map the relative contributions of this gene onto the functions of brain areas
