The Odyessy of Ape Language
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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. -
David's Memoirs
Around The World and Back David’s Memoirs by David Zahrt Written by David Zahrt with some supplemental fill in by daughter, Heidi Zahrt Self Published October, 2018 Carson City Nevada All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2018 David Zahrt AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK David Zahrt’s Memoirs CHAPTER 1 Marengo, Iowa CHAPTER 2 Turin, Iowa CHAPTER 3 State University of Iowa CHAPTER 4 Drew University CHAPTER 5 Ecumenical Institute CHAPTER 6 Sydney and Oombulgurri, Australia CHAPTER 7 Mill Shoals - Pace - Memphis CHAPTER 8 Kenyan Story CHAPTER 9 Homestead Return CHAPTER 10 Carson City CHAPTER 11 Musical Journey CHAPTER 12 Bicycle Trails 1 2 FOREWORD Over the years, my father, David Zahrt, spent countless hours reflecting on and writing about his life. It is a treasure for us that he has had the foresight and wisdom to record his experiences to share with his grandchildren and future generations. I am grateful that David and Linda Zahrt are Jay’s and my parents and for the life we have been given. Working with him to create this book and reading his recollections I see his life as a gift from a new perspective. This quote from one of Dad’s files shows that an underlying theme in his belief system is gratitude. “I return to A GRATEFUL HEART. One of my favorite prayers is found on page 22. It is adapted from the Week of Prayer for World Peace, 1978. We pray for the power to be gentle; the strength to be forgiving; the patience to be understanding; and the endurance to accept the consequences to holding to what we believe to be right. -
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. -
Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York ______
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK __________________________________________________ In the Matter of a Proceeding under Article 70 of the CPLR for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, THE NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT, INC., on behalf of KIKO, MEMORANDUM OF Petitioner, LAW IN SUPPORT OF -against- PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS CARMEN PRESTI, individually and as an officer and director of The Primate Sanctuary, Inc., CHRISTIE E. Index No. PRESTI, individually and as an officer and director of The Primate Sanctuary, Inc., and THE PRIMATE SANCTUARY, INC., Respondents. __________________________________________________ Elizabeth Stein, Esq. Attorney for Petitioner 5 Dunhill Road New Hyde Park, NY 11040 Phone (516) 747-4726 Steven M. Wise, Esq. Attorney for Petitioner 5195 NW 112th Terrace Coral Springs, FL 33076 Phone (954) 648-9864 Elizabeth Stein, Esq. Steven M. Wise, Esq. Subject to pro hac vice admission January_____, 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................................................................................ v I. SUMMARY OF NEW GROUNDS AND FACTS NEITHER PRESENTED NOR DETERMINED IN NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT, INC., EX REL. KIKO v. PRESTI OR NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT, INC. ON BEHALF OF TOMMY v. LAVERY. ............................................................................................................. 1 II. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY .................................................... 6 III. STATEMENT OF FACTS ........................................................................................... -
Understanding and Sharing Intentions: the Origins of Cultural Cognition
BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (2005) 28, 675–735 Printed in the United States of America Understanding and sharing intentions: The origins of cultural cognition Michael Tomasello, Malinda Carpenter, Josep Call, Tanya Behne, and Henrike Moll Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] http://www.eva.mpg.de/psycho/ Abstract: We propose that the crucial difference between human cognition and that of other species is the ability to participate with others in collaborative activities with shared goals and intentions: shared intentionality. Participation in such activities requires not only especially powerful forms of intention reading and cultural learning, but also a unique motivation to share psychological states with oth- ers and unique forms of cognitive representation for doing so. The result of participating in these activities is species-unique forms of cultural cognition and evolution, enabling everything from the creation and use of linguistic symbols to the construction of social norms and individual beliefs to the establishment of social institutions. In support of this proposal we argue and present evidence that great apes (and some children with autism) understand the basics of intentional action, but they still do not participate in activities involving joint intentions and attention (shared intentionality). Human children’s skills of shared intentionality develop gradually during the first 14 months of life as two ontogenetic pathways intertwine: (1) the general ape line of understanding others as animate, goal-directed, and intentional agents; and (2) a species-unique motivation to share emotions, experience, and activities with other persons. -
Human Uniqueness in the Age of Ape Language Research1
Society and Animals 18 (2010) 397-412 brill.nl/soan Human Uniqueness in the Age of Ape Language Research1 Mary Trachsel University of Iowa [email protected] Abstract This paper summarizes the debate on human uniqueness launched by Charles Darwin’s publi- cation of The Origin of Species in 1859. In the progress of this debate, Noam Chomsky’s intro- duction of the Language-Acquisition Device (LAD) in the mid-1960s marked a turn to the machine model of mind that seeks human uniqueness in uniquely human components of neu- ral circuitry. A subsequent divergence from the machine model can be traced in the short his- tory of ape language research (ALR). In the past fifty years, the focus of ALR has shifted from the search for behavioral evidence of syntax in the minds of individual apes to participant- observation of coregulated interactions between humans and nonhuman apes. Rejecting the computational machine model of mind, the laboratory methodologies of ALR scientists Tetsuro Matsuzawa and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh represent a worldview coherent with Darwin’s continu- ity hypothesis. Keywords ape language research, artificial intelligence, Chomsky, comparative psychology, Darwin, human uniqueness, social cognition Introduction Nothing at first can appear more difficult to believe than that the more complex organs and instincts should have been perfected, not by means superior to, though analogous with, human reason, but by the accumulation of innumerable slight variations, each good for the individual possessor. (Darwin, 1989b, p. 421) With the publication of The Origin of Species (1859/1989a), Charles Darwin steered science directly into a conversation about human uniqueness previ- ously dominated by religion and philosophy. -
The Humanities and Posthumanism
english edition 1 2015 The Humanities and Posthumanism issue editor GRZEGORZ GROCHOWSKI MICHAł PAWEł MARKOWSKI Humanities: an Unfinished Project E WA DOMAńSKA Ecological Humanities R YSZARD NYCZ Towards Innovative Humanities: The Text as a Laboratory. Traditions, Hypotheses, Ideas O LGA CIELEMęCKA Angelus Novus Looks to the Future. On the Anti-Humanism Which Overcomes Nothingness SYZ MON WRÓBEL Domesticating Animals: A Description of a Certain Disturbance teksty drugie · Institute of Literary Research Polish Academy of Science index 337412 · pl issn 0867-0633 EDITORIAL BOARD Agata Bielik-Robson (uk), Włodzimierz Bolecki, Maria Delaperrière (France), Ewa Domańska, Grzegorz Grochowski, Zdzisław Łapiński, Michał Paweł Markowski (usa), Maciej Maryl, Jakub Momro, Anna Nasiłowska (Deputy Editor-in-Chief), Leonard Neuger (Sweden), Ryszard Nycz (Editor-in-Chief), Bożena Shallcross (usa), Marta Zielińska, Tul’si Bhambry (English Translator and Language Consultant), Justyna Tabaszewska, Marta Bukowiecka (Managing Editor) ADVISORY BOARD Edward Balcerzan, Stanisław Barańczak (usa) , Małgorzata Czermińska, Paweł Dybel, Knut Andreas Grimstad (Norway), Jerzy Jarzębski, Bożena Karwowska (Canada), Krzysztof Kłosiński, Dorota Krawczyńska, Vladimir Krysinski (Canada), Luigi Marinelli (Italy ), Arent van Nieukerken (Holland), Ewa Rewers, German Ritz (Switzerland), Henryk Siewierski (Brasil), Janusz Sławiński , Ewa Thompson (usa), Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, Tamara Trojanowska (Canada), Alois Woldan (Austria), Anna Zeidler-Janiszewska ADDRESS Nowy Świat 72, room. -
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. -
Kiswahili for Foreigners ( Pdfdrive.Com ) (1).Pdf
KISWAHILI FOR FOREIGNERS By AMIR. A. MOHAMED FIRST EDITION 1993 SECOND EDITION 2000 THIRD EDITION 2009 © Create Space 0f Amazon.com CONTENTS – YALIYOMO Page FOREWORD Ukurasa I INTRODUCTION – 1 KITANGULIZI II THE SOUND 2 SYSTEM III ROOTS, STEMS, 3 AFFIXES IV NOUNS AND 4 CLASSIFICATION V VERB AND THEIR 11 TENSES VI COMPOUND 16 TENSES VII PRONOUNS 17 VIII ADJECTIVES 22 X ADVERBS 25 XI PREPOSITONS 29 AND CONJUCTIONS XII VOBABULARY – 33 MSAMIATI XIII KISWAHILI 46 SAYING – MISEMO YA KISWAHILI XIV EXERCISE – 52 MZOESI XV KISWAHILI WORD 65 – 124 POWER IX KISWAHILI SLANGS & BOMBASTCS – SIMO ZA KISWAHILI 125-174 IIX BIBLIOGRAPHY FOREWORD Kiswahili*is a growing language in Africa and the world as a whole. There are historians who believe that Kiswahili is probably nine hundred years old and like other languages, its significance can be proved by the growing demand of its usage and the constant increase in the world of the need to learn and to speak Kiswahili. The world is entering into the new millennium and we are all striving to have a better life and a peaceful world. Therefore, it has now become increasingly necessary for foreigners to learn Kiswahili no matter what they do and no matter where they are. Besides the social and economic dimensions of the language abroad like working in East Africa or just on holidays, learning the language may help to improve the race relations between Africans and foreigners. It’s time to learn to understand each other and to know how to make perfect moves in our lives. History of the language reveals that Kiswahili is of Bantu origin but heavily loaded with Arabic, English, Indian and other oriental words. -
Andrews Tove.Pdf (1.498Mb)
MASTEROPPGAVE Project Sci-fi: I n v i t i n g a l i e n s a n d r o b o t s i n t o t h e E n g l i s h c l a s s r o o m , h o w f i c t i o n a l c u l t u r e s c a n p r o m o t e d e v e l o p m e n t o f i n t e r c u l t u r a l c o m p e t e n c e Tove Lora Andrews 06.11.2019 Master Fremmedspråk i skolen Avdeling for økonomi, språk og samfunsdag Abstract Little focus has been placed on why English teachers in Norway should favour intercultural competence over cultural facts. Yet knowing cultural facts do not make pupils effective communicators, which is the purpose for language learning. Intercultural competence prepares pupils for intercultural encounters, through a conglomeration of open attitudes, accurate knowledge, insightful understanding, appropriate skills, and practical application. Literature is a common and efficient means of exploring culture and intercultural encounters within a classroom setting. Both multicultural literature and science fiction explore cultural themes and identity, but the latter explores a broader range of contemporary topics. Therefore, this thesis sought to explore to what extent science fiction could be used to promote intercultural competence in the English classroom. Analysing fiction and imaginary cultures circumvented pitfalls common to multicultural literature. -
Non-Human Primates and Language: Paper
Non-human primates and language: paper http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/nhplanguage/ftpaper.html Language competence in NHPs An assessment of the field in the light of a 'universal grammar' "The Berlin wall is down, and so is the wall that separates man from chimpanzee." (Elizabeth Bates) "There is no debate, so I have no opinion." (Noam Chomsky) 0 Introduction The language competence of non-human primates is one of the most controversial issues in present-day linguistics, with disbelief ranging from bored indifference to vitriolic accusations of fraud. The present paper aims to assess the current state of debate from an open-minded, critical and detached perspective. In a first part, a brief outline of earlier research in the language abilities of non-human primates - more precisely of apes (bonobos, urang-utangs, chimpanzees and gorillas) - is sketched. The second part focusses on the landmark studies published by Dr. Emily Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and her colleagues. A third section looks into the views of the Chomskyan field, leading up to the concluding section on the innateness debate. 1 Early research on non-human primates' capability for language 1.1 Attempts to teach NHPs to speak The language capability of non-human primates has been a subject of research since the beginning of this century. In 1909 already did Witmer attempt to teach a chimpanzee to talk. He claims that the chimpanzee was capable of articulating the word ‘mama’. In 1916 Furness taught an orang-utan to say the words ‘papa’ and ‘cup’. After the unexpected death of this orang-utan, Kellogg and Kellogg wanted to follow up this work. -
In Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)
2018, 31 David Washburn Special Issue Editor Peer-reviewed Assessing Distinctiveness Effects and “False Memories” in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Bonnie M. Perdue1, Andrew J. Kelly2, and Michael J. Beran3 1 Agnes Scott College 2 Georgia Gwinnett College 3 Georgia State University There are many parallels between human and nonhuman animal cognitive abilities, suggesting an evolutionary basis for many forms of cognition, including memory. For instance, past research has found that 2 chimpanzees exhibited an isolation effect, or improved memory for semantically distinctive items on a list (Beran, 2011). These results support the notion that chimpanzees are capable of semantic, relational processing in memory and introduce the possibility that other effects observed in humans, such as distinctiveness effects or false memories, may be present in nonhuman species. The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm is a commonly- used task to explore these phenomena, and it was adapted for use with chimpanzees. We tested 4 chimpanzees for isolation effects during encoding, distinctiveness effects during recognition, and potential “false memories” generated by the DRM paradigm by presenting a serial recognition memory task. The isolation effect previously reported (Beran, 2011) was not replicated in this experiment. Two of four chimpanzees showed improved recognition performance when information about distinctiveness could be used to exclude incorrect responses. None of the chimpanzees were significantly impaired in the “false memory” condition. However, limitations to this approach are discussed that require caution about assuming identical memory processes in these chimpanzees and in humans. Keywords: chimpanzees, memory, DRM illusion, isolation effect, false memory, distinctiveness, relational processing Research in the 20th century redefined our understanding of ape minds, especially the pioneering work of Dr.