Argument: whether or not animal communication
systems can be defined as language.
Human language qualities:
Human speech sounds can be arranged in
infinite sequences to create new meanings.
(Animals can't. They only add variety.)
Human languages are arbitrary. All
humans are of the same species but
speak over 6,000 languages. (Animals
have biologically-fixed sounds, gestures,
and postures, with an innate ability to
communicate with small variability.)
We communicate in the abstract (e.g. past, present, future,
not in immediate environment, develop concepts without
physical form). (Animals are limited to reacting to the
environment.)
Reason to study animal communication: We are
not the only animals that communicate, and we
may be able to understand something about our
own system, however different, from studying
systems of other species.
Naturally-occurring ACS
Black Austrian honeybee
communication (appis
mellifera carnica): Forager
bees' special dance on the
hives' wall to inform other
bees of the food's location;
quality of food, distance and
direction of source denoted
by 3 dances; Karl von Frisch's
experiments
Round Dance (5m.): moving in
alternate circles
Sickle Dance (5-20m.): moving
in 8-shaped patterns, vertical
angle to the sun reflecting angle
tofood source
Tail-wagging Dance (>20m.): moving in straight
line, wagging her abdomen in semi-circular paths.
Duration of dance = Distance of flying
Bee communication systems are innate,
and they require an audience for their
communication efforts.
Bird Songs and Calls: Communication uses
vocalizations and visualizations.
Bird Songs: may have an internal
structure; identify bird species; gives
information on identity and mated status
of bird; used in courtship rituals and
territory protection; important song
sections and their order
Bird Calls: singular or short, sequenced
notes; signals to keep flock together, to
indicate take-off/landing, & to sound a
predator alarm; innate
Dolphins & Whales: vocalizations (pure tones such
as whistles & squeaks, & pulsed tones such as
clicks, barks, yelps, & moans)
Echolation: clicks to send out sound
waves that they bounce off objects to
identify them
Whistles: to send out alarms or distress calls
Prairie Dogs: Use up to 100 sounds in one alarm
to describe a particular predator; create new
calls/messages with specific information on
predator such as shape, size & color
Primate Communication: on feeding, protecting territory,
showing dominance, attracting & keeping mates; calls, facial
expressions, & gestures; Vervets (vocalizations: 22 distinct
messages, 36 sounds that cannot be combined)
Artificially-taught ACS
Clever Hans - horse: communication
as a result of cueing by trainer
Chimpanzees & Great Apes: share over 95% of
human DNA; their physical structure of the
musculature in their vocal tract is different from
humans and does not allow the same articulations;
good communication with hands (good manual
dexterity & imitation of movement); Allen &
Beatrice Gardner's work with Washoe, a
chimpanzee - creates new words with
compounding; ape Kanesa's badbad on poison
mushroom; need to be taught by a trainer; vary in
word order; chimpanzee Nim Chimpsky on
repetition
African Grey Parrots: study on their
mental capabilities, such as
symbolic thinking; recognition and
relation of numbers 1-6 in oral and
written form; object permanence;
reasoning ability of 5y/o on some
tasks; challenge on whether they are
capable of abstract thinking