Language & Communication Part I

Non-human (especially primate) communication & capacity for language

Non-Verbal Communication

• Kinesics: Study of communication through nonverbal means such as posture, mannerisms, facial expressions, gestures, etc. (body language)

Facial Expressions

Gestures

Non-Verbal Human Communication

• Kinesics: Study of communication through nonverbal means such as posture, mannerisms, facial expressions, gestures, etc. (body language)

• Paralanguage: optional vocal features that communicate meaning apart from language itself such as grunts, laughs, moans, sighs, vocal tone, etc.

Verbal Communication: Language

• Communication that has meaning even when its referent (whatever it is being referred to) is not present

• Meaning is arbitrary, not instinctive ; has to be learned

Non-Human Communication

• Other animal species communicate in variety of ways: tactile, visual, olfactory, vocal

• To what degree do various animals, especially primates, differ from humans in their capacity for language?

• Is there continuity or discontinuity on the spectrum of language capabilities from various primates to humans?

Differences between Primate & Human Vocalizations

• Primate vocalizations are closed, human vocalizations are open – Closed: Different calls are not (usually) put together to make new,

meaningful utterances – Open: Governed by complex rules about how to combine sounds and

sequences to produce infinite variety of meanings

• All humans languages employ a much greater number of symbols

• Only humans are known to communicate about past or future events and objects not present (displacement)

Vervet Monkeys Chlorocebus pygerythrus

• Eastern and southern Africa • Diurnal • Closely-knit social groups • Terrestrial and arboreal • Predator-specific alarm calls

Vervet Monkeys: Predator-Specific Alarm Calls

Leopard • Run up into the trees to

avoid ambush

Eagle • Look up and run to a

bush to avoid aerial attack

Python • Stand bipedally and

look down at the ground

Some Other Primates with Predator-Specific Alarm Calls

• Ring-tailed lemurs • White-faced capuchin monkeys • Diana monkeys • Campbell's monkeys

The Gorilla Language Project • Gather data about gorilla language , a case

study of observed gorilla behavior and utterances

• All signs, the context in which they occurred, the number of repetitions, and anything unusual during signing are recorded daily

• Administer informal and formal tests of vocabulary comprehension, the understanding of relationships between objects and words, and standard child intelligence tests

• Periodic video-taped sessions and audio-taped recordings

Koko the Gorilla • Female lowland gorilla born in 1971

• Participant in The Gorilla Language Project

since 1 year old • According to researchers, advanced

further with language than any other non-human: – Working vocabulary of over 1,000 signs – Understands approximately 2,000 words of

spoken English – Typically constructs statements averaging

three to six words • Primary researcher: Dr. Francine“Penny”

Patterson

Video: Koko the Gorilla

Transcript of Chat with Koko • AOL: MInyKitty asks Koko are you going to have a baby in the future? • PENNY: OK, is that for Koko? Koko are you going to have a baby in the

future? • KOKO: Koko-love eat ... sip. • AOL: Me too! • PENNY: What about a baby? You going to have baby? She's just

thinking...her hands are together... • KOKO: Unattention. • PENNY: Oh poor sweetheart. She said 'unattention.' She covered her face

with her hands..which means it's not happening, basically, or it hasn't happened yet. . . I don't see it.

• AOL: That's sad! • PENNY: It is responding to the question. In other words, she hasn't had

one yet, and she doesn't see a future here.

Transcript of Chat with Koko • PENNY: Let me explain what we're doing. • KOKO: Fine. • PENNY: We're going to be on the phone with a lot of people who are going

to ask us questions... • KOKO: Nipple. (Koko sometimes uses 'nipple' as a 'sounds like' for 'people.') • PENNY: ...about you and about me. . . Lots of people. • KOKO: That red pink. (Indicating Penny's shirt.) • PENNY: That red pink. Yes, right! • KOKO: Hurry good. • PENNY: This is red—this is pink, exactly. • KOKO: Pink. (Koko reaches for Penny's pocket which contains treats.) • PENNY: OK. That's the kind of things they are going to ask. • KOKO: Good.

Kanzi the Bonobo • Male bonobo born in 1980

• According to researchers, Kanzi:

• Acquired language by being exposed to it

• Demonstrates receptive competence of 3,000 words of spoken English

• Knows 350+ symbols or lexigrams • Creates novel 2-3 word sentences

• Also trained in stone tool making

• Primary researcher: Dr. Sue Savage-

Rumbaugh

Lexigram

• Symbols correspond to objects and ideas • Symbols do not necessarily reflect the objects and

ideas they represent

Video: Kanzi the Bonobo

Some Critics of Primate Ability to Learn Human Language

• Noam Chomsky (linguist) • Steven Pinker (cognitive scientist) • Herbert Terrace (psychologist)

Some Other Primate Language Projects

• Viki (chimpanzee) – Keith and Catherine Hayes, 1940s, 1950s – Raised as a human baby and learned to say ‘mama,” “papa,” “cup,” and “up”

• Washoe (chimpanzee)

– Allen and Beatrice Gardner; Roger and Deborah Fouts, 1960s – Learned at least 250 ASL signs; adopted son Loulis also learned signs

• Chantek (chimpanzee)

– Lyn Miles, 1970s – Learned 150 ASL signs

• Nim Chimpsky (chimpanzee)

– Herbert Terrace, 1960s – Taught ASL

Based on these videos…

Do Koko and Kanzi understand what they are “saying”… or do they understand certain gestures could get them

things or make their trainers pleased with them? ……….

Does either primate demonstrate the capacity for language claimed by researchers?

……….. Is their communication with humans reflective of symbolic thought? How about an open system?

Displacement?