DOCSLIB.ORG

Without a Sound

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Without a Sound FOCUS_Language Without a Sound During language acquisition, gestures seem vital to learning how to speak. They help us emphasize and structure what we say. Simone Pika from the Humboldt Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen wants to know whether gestures were an evolutionary precursor of human language and how they develop. To investigate this question, the researcher studies the com- munication strategies of great apes in natural environments, but also corvids and human infants. TEXT CATARINA PIETSCHMANN n incredible cacophony starts making begging and appease- the highly-aroused situation of hunt- of vocalizations echoes ment gestures: he ducks down, sways ing, do they not increase their distance through the rainforest, backwards and forwards, whimpers like from the animals when it falls below followed by hectic scurry- a chimpanzee child, and makes a facial this minimum. ing. Chaos is in the air. Ba- expression called a fear grin. The mes- Yet Pika doesn’t need to get any boonsA have hunted down a small ante- sage: Don’t hurt me, but give me some closer to film the gestures that are ex- lope, but a group of chimpanzees im- of that delicious stuff. And it works! changed between the animals. The mediately snatches away their prey. As Bartok tears the antelope apart and 43-year-old is the Leader of the Hum- Bartok, the alpha male, lugs the carcass shares small pieces of the meat with boldt Research Group “Evolution of around, some members of his group both of them. Communication” at the Max Planck In- beg him to share some of the meat. stitute for Ornithology in Seewiesen. Bartok, however, wants to be the RESEARCHERS KEEP THEIR She wants to solve one of evolution’s first to eat, so he settles down with the DISTANCE biggest mysteries: how did human lan- dead animal less than four meters away guage evolve? from the blonde woman. Simone Pika “When you actually get to see some- According to one theory, our ances- has been following the chimpanzees for thing like this in the wild, you can’t tors initially gesticulated with each quite some time during her daily treks help sitting in the camp that night and other before using speech. That means through Uganda’s Kibale National Park, just smiling from ear to ear,” says Pika, they could have communicated simple and she can hardly believe that Bartok thinking back to that day. Because un- information using gestures. “But, like is sitting so close to her now. like in the days of the young Jane many of my colleagues, I now believe Two males have the courage to ap- Goodall, scientists no longer lure wild this to be a rather unlikely scenario, proach Bartok and the scientist. While chimpanzees with food, but instead because individuals use gestures to one of them simply sits down next to track them down in the rainforest day communicate with each other mainly the alpha male, opens up his out- after day, guided by the animals’ nests, stretched hand and then gently starts feeding grounds and calls, all the while Like all great apes, gorillas also communicate plucking at the antelope, the other making sure to keep an observer dis- via gestures. The animals use this form of male is less self-confident. Although he tance of at least seven meters. Only in communication mainly in relaxed settings and across short distances. also sits down next to Bartok, he then very rare and specific contexts, such as Photo: Simone Pika/MPI for Ornithology 18 MaxPlanckResearch 2 | 16 Without a Sound Photo: Simone Pika/MPI for Ornithology FOCUS_Language when they are in a relaxed setting and can touch or at least see each other,” says Pika. But what if an animal wants to warn other members of its group of a preda- tor, and the group is far away in the dense rainforest? “Then vocalizations are, of course, much more effective than gestures.” That is why most re- searchers now believe that calls and gestures evolved in parallel. While writing her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Michael To- masello at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Pika studied the gestures used by go- rillas and bonobos in various wildlife parks and zoos across Europe. But is their behavior similar to that of their fellow apes living in the wild? Or do gestures. In a new study being conduct- Today, there is a scientific consensus animals in captivity gesticulate primar- ed with her postdoctoral fellow Dr. Eva that apes use gestures to communicate ily because they lack a natural environ- Luef, the researcher is therefore aiming with each other. Pointing gestures, ment and are constantly in each oth- to find out whether chimpanzees, like however, were considered to be an ex- er’s presence? humans, have certain greeting customs, clusively human trait until recently. Yet To find answers, the young research- and if so, whether these greetings vary chimpanzees living in zoos have been er had to observe her subjects in their depending on an individual’s social observed to clearly point to highly de- natural habitats. “In 2005, when I was rank within the group. Consequently, sirable food, such as grapes and banan- given the opportunity to study a group gestures would be relevant in situations as, indicating to their keepers: I want of chimpanzees in Kibale National in which humans, too, would talk to that! It appears that chimpanzees and Park, nothing could hold me back. I each other: in direct exchanges, when bonobos in captivity learn that they will always remember that very first individuals are in very close proximity can bring a human’s attention to a par- day: Not a single chimpanzee anywhere to each other. ticular object by pointing at it, and that in sight, but the forest was filled with In 2010, Pika received the Alexan- they will ultimately receive the object. their calls, which are known as pant- der von Humboldt Foundation’s Sofja This kind of exchange has only rarely hoots and can be heard hundreds of Kovalevskaja Award, which is endowed been observed in nature, and only be- meters away. The wild chimpanzees with 1.65 million euros. She uses these tween friends or between mothers and called out much more frequently than funds to study the evolution and devel- their offspring. their counterparts in captivity, indicat- opment of communication in three dif- ing to us that calls play a very different ferent model groups: in children grow- GROOM ME HERE! role in natural habitats,” Pika explains. ing up in different cultures; in great Pant-hoots let chimpanzees know apes, our closest living relatives; and in The pointing gestures that have been who is in which part of the forest and species that have a similarly complex observed in chimpanzees living in their with whom. The animals also use these social structure – corvids. Using this ap- natural environments mostly occur in characteristic calls to claim rich feeding proach, Pika aims to determine the de- the context of animals grooming each grounds for themselves. When greeting gree to which our ancestors had devel- other. Grooming is more than just a hy- each other, they use quieter pant- oped communication skills, and which gienic behavior: it plays an important grunts. Pika has observed that some an- factors are responsible for the fact that role in establishing and maintaining imals also accompany these grunts with only humans are capable of speech. social relationships. Simone Pika dis- Photo: Marlen Fröhlich/MPI for Ornithology 20 MaxPlanckResearch 2 | 16 Left The more independent young chimpanzees become, the less their mothers carry them around. By stretching out her arm and making eye contact, this chimpanzee mother is telling her child that it’s time to go to one of the safest places in the rainforest of Uganda’s Kibale National Park: onto mom’s back. Right Chimpanzees use more than 100 different types of gestures. Some gestures are used by only one single member of a group. The male chimpanzee Dolphi, for example, raises his arms vertically above his head to signal to the alpha male (front) that he should follow the group. covered that chimpanzees use distinct scratching gestures to let others know that they want to be groomed, but more importantly, they use them to sig- nal where. “This means chimpanzees know that their counterpart under- stands the meaning of the gesture,” says the Max Planck researcher. Many species of birds also use refer- ential gestures when performing court- ship displays – despite the fact that birds and humans sit on two very diver- gent branches of the evolutionary tree. Ravens are a prime example: not only are they intelligent and capable of learning, but they also use objects as pointing tools. Pika discovered that ra- vens pick up objects with their beaks with the intention of offering or show- ing them to other group members, or to attract the attention of a potential mate. And sometimes they just want to volve objects,” says Pika. This indicates own reach. They do so by scooting clos- scuffle with each other for it. that apes use pointing gestures only to er to their partner and presenting the “Children do that too – and chim- attract the attention of conspecifics, but part of their body that itches. Young panzees, surprisingly, don’t. They do never to inform them of something go- birds also enjoy spreading their wings scuffle for things, but they don’t hold ing on in their immediate surroundings. and sliding down a snowy slope on up objects to show or offer them to oth- Just like apes, ravens also groom their backs.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Nonhuman Rights to Personhood
    Pace Environmental Law Review Volume 30 Issue 3 Summer 2013 Article 10 July 2013 Nonhuman Rights to Personhood Steven M. Wise Nonhuman Rights Project Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr Part of the Animal Law Commons, and the Environmental Law Commons Recommended Citation Steven M. Wise, Nonhuman Rights to Personhood, 30 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 1278 (2013) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol30/iss3/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace Environmental Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DYSON LECTURE Nonhuman Rights to Personhood STEVEN M. WISE I. INTRODUCTION Thank you all for joining us for the second Dyson Lecture of 2012. We were very lucky to have a first Dyson Lecture, and we will have an even more successful lecture this time. We have a very distinguished person I will talk about in just a second. I’m David Cassuto, a Pace Law School professor. I teach among other things, Animal Law, and that is why I am very familiar with Professor Wise’s work. I want to say a few words about the Dyson Lecture. The Dyson Distinguished Lecture was endowed in 1982 by a gift from the Dyson Foundation, which was made possible through the generosity of the late Charles Dyson, a 1930 graduate, trustee, and long-time benefactor of Pace University. The principle aim of the Dyson Lecture is to encourage and make possible scholarly legal contributions of high quality in furtherance of Pace Law School’s educational mission and that is very much what we are going to have today.
    [Show full text]
  • EAZA Best Practice Guidelines Bonobo (Pan Paniscus)
    EAZA Best Practice Guidelines Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Editors: Dr Jeroen Stevens Contact information: Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp – K. Astridplein 26 – B 2018 Antwerp, Belgium Email: [email protected] Name of TAG: Great Ape TAG TAG Chair: Dr. María Teresa Abelló Poveda – Barcelona Zoo [email protected] Edition: First edition - 2020 1 2 EAZA Best Practice Guidelines disclaimer Copyright (February 2020) by EAZA Executive Office, Amsterdam. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in hard copy, machine-readable or other forms without advance written permission from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). Members of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) may copy this information for their own use as needed. The information contained in these EAZA Best Practice Guidelines has been obtained from numerous sources believed to be reliable. EAZA and the EAZA APE TAG make a diligent effort to provide a complete and accurate representation of the data in its reports, publications, and services. However, EAZA does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information. EAZA disclaims all liability for errors or omissions that may exist and shall not be liable for any incidental, consequential, or other damages (whether resulting from negligence or otherwise) including, without limitation, exemplary damages or lost profits arising out of or in connection with the use of this publication. Because the technical information provided in the EAZA Best Practice Guidelines can easily be misread or misinterpreted unless properly analysed, EAZA strongly recommends that users of this information consult with the editors in all matters related to data analysis and interpretation.
    [Show full text]
  • Called “Talking Animals” Taught Us About Human Language?
    Linguistic Frontiers • 1(1) • 14-38 • 2018 DOI: 10.2478/lf-2018-0005 Linguistic Frontiers Representational Systems in Zoosemiotics and Anthroposemiotics Part I: What Have the So- Called “Talking Animals” Taught Us about Human Language? Research Article Vilém Uhlíř* Theoretical and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Philosophy and History of Sciences. Charles University. Viničná 7, 12843 Praha 2, Czech Republic Received ???, 2018; Accepted ???, 2018 Abstract: This paper offers a brief critical review of some of the so-called “Talking Animals” projects. The findings from the projects are compared with linguistic data from Homo sapiens and with newer evidence gleaned from experiments on animal syntactic skills. The question concerning what had the so-called “Talking Animals” really done is broken down into two categories – words and (recursive) syntax. The (relative) failure of the animal projects in both categories points mainly to the fact that the core feature of language – hierarchical recursive syntax – is missing in the pseudo-linguistic feats of the animals. Keywords: language • syntax • representation • meta-representation • zoosemiotics • anthroposemiotics • talking animals • general cognition • representational systems • evolutionary discontinuity • biosemiotics © Sciendo 1. The “Talking Animals” Projects For the sake of brevity, I offer a greatly selective review of some of the more important “Talking Animals” projects. Please note that many omissions were necessary for reasons of space. The “thought climate” of the 1960s and 1970s was formed largely by the Skinnerian zeitgeist, in which it seemed possible to teach any animal to master any, or almost any, skill, including language. Perhaps riding on an ideological wave, following the surprising claims of Fossey [1] and Goodall [2] concerning primates, as well as the claims of Lilly [3] and Batteau and Markey [4] concerning dolphins, many scientists and researchers focussed on the continuities between humans and other species, while largely ignoring the discontinuities and differences.
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminary Pages
    ! ! UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ! RIVERSIDE! ! ! ! ! Tiny Revolutions: ! Lessons From a Marriage, a Funeral,! and a Trip Around the World! ! ! ! A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction ! of the requirements! for the degree of ! ! Master of !Fine Arts ! in!! Creative Writing ! and Writing for the! Performing Arts! by!! Margaret! Downs! ! June !2014! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Thesis Committee: ! ! Professor Emily Rapp, Co-Chairperson! ! Professor Andrew Winer, Co-Chairperson! ! Professor David L. Ulin ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Copyright by ! Margaret Downs! 2014! ! ! The Thesis of Margaret Downs is approved:! ! !!_____________________________________________________! !!! !!_____________________________________________________! ! Committee Co-Chairperson!! !!_____________________________________________________! Committee Co-Chairperson!!! ! ! ! University of California, Riverside!! ! !Acknowledgements ! ! Thank you, coffee and online banking and MacBook Air.! Thank you, professors, for cracking me open and putting me back together again: Elizabeth Crane, Jill Alexander Essbaum, Mary Otis, Emily Rapp, Rob Roberge, Deanne Stillman, David L. Ulin, and Mary Yukari Waters. ! Thank you, Spotify and meditation, sushi and friendship, Rancho Las Palmas and hot running water, Agam Patel and UCR, rejection and grief and that really great tea I always steal at the breakfast buffet. ! Thank you, Joshua Mohr and Paul Tremblay and Mark Haskell Smith and all the other writers who have been exactly where I am and are willing to help. ! And thank you, Tod Goldberg, for never being satisfied with what I write. !Dedication! ! ! For Misty. Because I promised my first book would be for you. ! For my hygges. Because your friendship inspires me and motivates me. ! For Jason. Because every day you give me the world.! For Everest. Because. !Table of Contents! ! ! !You are braver than you think !! ! ! ! ! ! 5! !When you feel defeated, stop to catch your breath !! ! ! 26! !Push yourself until you can’t turn back !! ! ! ! ! 40! !You’re not lost.
    [Show full text]
  • Ape Rescue Chronicle
    The Springfield Country Hotel, Leisure Club & Spa is set within six acres of beautiful landscaped gardens at the foot of the Purbeck Hills. Charity No. 1126939 superior and executive rooms, are all you would expect from a country house hotel, some with balconies and views of our beautifully landscaped gardens. A PE R ESCUE C HRONICLE Situated in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, just We also boast a Leisure Club with a Issue: 66 SPRING 2017 a few minutes’ drive from Lulworth well-equipped gym, heated indoor Cove, Monkey World, Corfe Castle, swimming pool, sauna, steam Swanage Steam Railway and the room, large spa bath, snooker beaches of Swanage and Studland, room, 2 squash courts, outdoor we are just a short drive from the tennis courts and an outdoor Jurassic Coast which has been swimming pool, heated during the awarded World Heritage status. summer months. At the Springfield we have combined So whether your stay is purely for the atmosphere of a country house pleasure, or you are attending an with all the facilities of a modern international conference or local hotel. The comfort of all 65 meeting you can be sure of a true bedrooms, with a choice of standard, Dorset welcome. www.thespringfield.co.uk EXCLUSIVE OFFERS! Monkey World Adoptive Parents receive a free night when booking one or more nights – including Full English Breakfast, Leisure Club & Free WIFI! Guests who are not Adoptive Parents receive free tickets to Monkey World when staying one or more nights! See www.thespringfield.co.uk/monkey-world-offers for details.
    [Show full text]
  • Planeta De Los Simios Miguel Abad Vila Centro De Saúde “Novoa Santos”
    RMC Original JMM Darwin en el planeta de los simios Miguel Abad Vila Centro de Saúde “Novoa Santos”. Rúa Juan XXIII nº 6. 32003 Ourense (España). Correspondencia: Miguel Abad Vila. Avenida de la Habana, 21, 2º. 32003 Ourense (España). e‐mail: [email protected] Recibido el 21 de febrero de 2015; aceptado el 4 de marzo de 2015. Resumen Las relaciones entre primates humanos y no humanos han sido fuente de inspiración para la ciencia y el arte. El planeta de los simios/ Planet of the Apes (1968) de Franklin J. Schaffner representó el punto de partida para una serie de películas y series de televisión estructuradas en una hipotética sociedad donde los simios dominaban a los seres humanos. Palabras clave: evolución, primates, derechos de los animales, ciencia ficción. Summary The relationship between human and non‐human primates have been a source of inspiration for scien‐ ce and art. Planet of the Apes (1968) represented the starting point for a series of films and television series structured in a hypothetical dominated society where the apes dominate the humans. Keywords: Evolution, Primates, Rights of the animals, Science fiction. El autor declara que el trabajo ha sido publicado en gran parte con anterioridad1. El actual es una actualización. 203 Rev Med Cine 2015; 11(4): 203‐214 © Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca J Med Mov 2015; 11(4): 203‐214 M Abad Vila Darwin en el planeta de los simios “Hay ciento noventa y tres especies vivientes de simios y monos. El propio Boulle fue el galardonado con el Óscar al mejor Ciento noventa y dos de ellas están cubiertas de pelo.
    [Show full text]
  • Sign Language Orangutan Dead at 39 8 August 2017
    Sign language orangutan dead at 39 8 August 2017 individuals he did not know and often chose forms of communication which are more typical of orangutans, such as vocalizations and unique hand gestures." Orangutans "are considered geriatric after the age of about 35," making Chantek "one of the oldest living male orangutans" in North America, the zoo said in a statement. © 2017 AFP Veterinarians at Zoo Atlanta had been treating Chantek for heart disease, but officials were reluctant to give a firm cause of animal's death Chantek, a male orangutan that learned to communicate in sign language, has died at the age of 39, a US zoo announced. Veterinarians at Zoo Atlanta had been treating Chantek for heart disease, but officials were reluctant to give a firm cause of animal's death on Monday. Chantek was born in Atlanta in the southern US state of Georgia but raised as a human child by an anthropologist in Tennessee who taught him American Sign Language (ASL). He was the subject of a 2014 documentary titled "The Ape Who Went to College." The orangutan moved to Zoo Atlanta in 1997. The zoo said Chantek "frequently used ASL to communicate with his caregivers, with whom he developed close personal bonds throughout his years at Zoo Atlanta." However "he was shy about signing with 1 / 2 APA citation: Sign language orangutan dead at 39 (2017, August 8) retrieved 27 September 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2017-08-language-orangutan-dead.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bonobo and Me
    THE BONOBO AND ME - COMPARING FAMILY TREES A PICTORIAL PRESENTATION With Marian Brickner A Campus Outreach Program in Science Education In cooperation with The University of Missouri-St. Louis Grade Level: Pre K-6 Pre-Visit Activities: Discuss what a family tree is and help students construct one of their family if possible. Presentation Time Period: Varies from 30-60 minutes as wanted. Materials: 1. A black “portfolio” case with several pictures 13 x 19, several 8 x 10's 2. A round “circular portfolio” case with a 5-foot U.S. map with ribbons on it showing where zoos are located that have Bonobo families. 3. Life size portrait of an adult Bonobo. 4. A weighted chain the average length of an adult male Bonobo (119cm) and one for the average adult female (111cm). 5. Large globe. 6. Skeletal hands, feet and skull replicas of humans (Homo sapiens), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and Bonobo (Pan paniscus). 7. One weight of 2 1/2 pounds and one 7 pounds. Introduction to Presentation: “Hi, I am Marian Brickner, a photographer. I am working on a book about a Bonobo family tree. Today I will introduce you to a family you may never have met yet.” Has anyone heard of a Bonobo? What do you think a Bonobo might be? What can you tell me about them? “Bonobos are one of the Great Apes.” Who can tell me an example of a great ape? “Scientists call them by their scientific name Pan paniscus.” What is the scientific name of human beings? Historical Perspective: “I have been following the family of a Bonobo named Linda.” (Show picture of Linda.) “Linda lives in Milwaukee and was born in 1956 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (Zaire) Africa in the central Congo Basin.” If she was born in 1956, how old is Linda today? Can anyone show me on the globe where she came from? Where do we live? “Linda has seven children, five girls and two boys.
    [Show full text]
  • West African Chimpanzees
    Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan West African Chimpanzees Compiled and edited by Rebecca Kormos, Christophe Boesch, Mohamed I. Bakarr and Thomas M. Butynski IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group IUCN The World Conservation Union Donors to the SSC Conservation Communications Programme and West African Chimpanzees Action Plan The IUCN Species Survival Commission is committed to communicating important species conservation information to natural resource managers, decision makers and others whose actions affect the conservation of biodiversity. The SSC’s Action Plans, Occasional Papers, newsletter Species and other publications are supported by a wide variety of generous donors including: The Sultanate of Oman established the Peter Scott IUCN/SSC Action Plan Fund in 1990. The Fund supports Action Plan development and implementation. To date, more than 80 grants have been made from the Fund to SSC Specialist Groups. The SSC is grateful to the Sultanate of Oman for its confidence in and support for species conservation worldwide. The Council of Agriculture (COA), Taiwan has awarded major grants to the SSC’s Wildlife Trade Programme and Conser- vation Communications Programme. This support has enabled SSC to continue its valuable technical advisory service to the Parties to CITES as well as to the larger global conservation community. Among other responsibilities, the COA is in charge of matters concerning the designation and management of nature reserves, conservation of wildlife and their habitats, conser- vation of natural landscapes, coordination of law enforcement efforts, as well as promotion of conservation education, research, and international cooperation. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) provides significant annual operating support to the SSC.
    [Show full text]
  • Human–Animal Communication*
    AN46CH21-Kulick ARI 26 September 2017 7:48 Annual Review of Anthropology Human–Animal Communication∗ Don Kulick Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University, 751 26, Uppsala, Sweden; email: [email protected] ANNUAL REVIEWS Further Click here to view this article's online features: t%PXOMPBEmHVSFTBT115TMJEFT t/BWJHBUFMJOLFESFGFSFODFT t%PXOMPBEDJUBUJPOT t&YQMPSFSFMBUFEBSUJDMFT t4FBSDILFZXPSET Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2017. 46:357–78 Keywords First published as a Review in Advance on August animal studies, animal communicators, animal training, ape language, 7, 2017 companion species, ethics, pets The Annual Review of Anthropology is online at by [email protected] on 11/02/17. For personal use only. anthro.annualreviews.org Abstract https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-102116- Since the demise in the 1980s of research by psychologists who attempted 041723 Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2017.46:357-378. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org to teach human language to apes, a range of other perspectives has arisen Copyright c 2017 by Annual Reviews. ⃝ that explore how humans can communicate with animals and what the pos- All rights reserved sibility of such communication means. Sociologists interested in symbolic ∗This article is part of a special theme on interactionism, anthropologists writing about ontology, equestrian and ca- Human–Animal Interaction. For a list of other articles in this theme, see http://www. nine trainers, people with autism who say they understand animals because annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev- they think like animals, and a ragbag of sundry New Age women who claim an-46-themes to be able to converse with animals through telepathy have started discussing human–animal communication in ways that recast the whole point of think- ing about it.
    [Show full text]
  • LING 001 Introduction to Linguistics
    LING 001 Introduction to Linguistics Lecture #6 Animal Communication 2 02/05/2020 Katie Schuler Announcements • Exam 1 is next class (Monday)! • Remember there are no make-up exams (but your lowest exam score will be dropped) How to do well on the exam • Review the study guides • Make sure you can answer the practice problems • Come on time (exam is 50 minutes) • We MUST leave the room for the next class First two questions are easy Last time • Communication is everywhere in the animal kingdom! • Human language is • An unbounded discrete combinatorial system • Many animals have elements of this: • Honeybees, songbirds, primates • But none quite have language Case Study #4: Can Apes learn Language? Ape Projects • Viki (oral production) • Sign Language: • Washoe (Gardiner) (chimp) • Nim Chimpsky (Terrace) (chimp) • Koko (Patterson) (gorilla) • Kanzi (Savage-Rumbaugh) (bonobo) Viki’s `speech’ • Raised by psychologists • Tried to teach her oral language, but didn’t get far... Later Attempts • Later attempts used non-oral languages — • either symbols (Sarah, Kanzi) or • ASL (Washoe, Koko, Nim). • Extensive direct instruction by humans. • Many problems of interpretation and evaluation. Main one: is this a • miniature/incipient unbounded discrete combinatorial system, or • is it just rote learning+randomness? Washoe and Koko Video Washoe • A chimp who was extensively trained to use ASL by the Gardners • Knew 132 signs by age 5, and over 250 by the end of her life. • Showed some productive use (‘water bird’) • And even taught her adopted son Loulis some signs But the only deaf, native signer on the team • ‘Every time the chimp made a sign, we were supposed to write it down in the log… They were always complaining because my log didn’t show enough signs.
    [Show full text]
  • Bonobo (Pan Paniscus)
    Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Conservation Strategy 2012–2022 About IUCN IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN’s work focuses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use, and deploying nature- based solutions to global challenges in climate, food and development. IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world, and brings governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,200 government and NGO Members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. IUCN Species Survival Commission The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN’s six volunteer commissions with a global membership of 8,000 experts. SSC advises IUCN and its members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species conservation and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. SSC has significant input into the international agreements dealing with biodiversity conservation. www.iucn.org/themes/ssc IUCN Species Programme The IUCN Species Programme supports the activities of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and individual Specialist Groups, as well as implementing global species conservation initiatives. It is an integral part of the IUCN Secretariat and is managed from IUCN’s international headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.
    [Show full text]