Primate Calls, Human Language, and Nonverbal Communication [and Comments and Reply]

Burling, Robbins; Armstrong, David F.; Blount, Ben G.; Callaghan, Catherine A.; Foster, Mary LeCron; King, Barbara J.; Parker, Sue Taylor; Sakura, Osamu; Stokoe, William C.; Wallace, Ron; Wallman, Joel J.; Whiten, Andrew; Wilcox, Sherman; Wynn, Thomas

doi:10.1086/204132

Cited by 204 publications

(80 citation statements)

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“…How a person communicates will be affected by an impairment of one of these media and particularly of such a preeminent one as language, but only insofar as the damage impedes the externalization of the individual's mental states. Communication and language can and should be kept independent of each other, as is also maintained by Chomskyan linguistics (Chomsky, 1980) and by many studies in animal cognition (e.g., Burling, 1993;Premack, 1986).…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Neuropragmatics: Neuropsychological Constraints on Formal Theories of Dialogue

Bara¹,

Tirassa²,

Zettin

1997

Brain and Language

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We are interested in the validation of a cognitive theory of human communication, grounded in a speech acts perspective. The theory we refer to is outlined, and a number of predictions are drawn from it. We report a series of protocols administered to 13 brain-injured subjects and to a comparable control group. The tasks included direct and indirect speech acts, irony, deceits, failures of communication, and theory of mind inferences. All the predicted trends of difficulty are consistently verified; in particular, difficulty increases from direct/indirect speech acts to irony, from irony to deceits, and from deceits to failure recovery. This trend symmetrically shows both in the successful situation and in the failure situation. Further, failure situations prove more difficult to handle than the relevant successful situation. In sharp contrast with previous literature, there is no difference between the subjects' comprehension of direct and indirect speech acts. The results are discussed in the light of our theoretical approach.

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Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Neuropragmatics: Neuropsychological Constraints on Formal Theories of Dialogue

Bara¹,

Tirassa²,

Zettin

1997

Brain and Language

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“…This is because language is inseparably bound up with human cognition and language is critically important for human thought and mental processing (Tomasello, 2008). Furthermore, whilst there may be limitations on the capacity to express cognitive abilities in one communicative modality, the cognitive abilities displayed by apes in other communicative modalities may indicate that a certain degree of continuity in language may be present in our closest living relatives (Burling, 1993, Hewes, 1973. That is, rather than asking whether primates have language, we should instead look for the component features that are the building blocks of the capacity for language, allowing us to evaluate whether these abilities are widespread across a range of species or more species specific (de Waal and Ferrari, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is important to understand what cognitive characteristics underlie gestural communication in primates. Whilst features of cognition make primate vocalisations an unlikely sole candidate for an evolutionary precursor to human language, it is possible that the cognitive skills underlying language evolution are present in the gestural modality of communication (Corballis, 2003, Hewes, 1973, Burling, 1993. This is because primates have a greater voluntary control over their limbs than their vocal output and more important similarities with human language can be observed in the gestural modality in many areas of cognition such as learning, symbolic communication and intentionality (Tomasello and Zuberbühler, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the central issues in the study of language evolution is examining features of cognition and communication in our closest primate relatives (Zuberbühler, 2005, Crockford and Boesch, 2003, Burling, 1993. One proposed modality of language evolution is that of manual gestural communication (Hewes, 1973, Corballis, 2003, Corballis, 2002.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

AbstractAn important element in understanding the evolutionary origin of human language is to explore homologous traits in cognition and communication between primates and humans (Burling, 1993, Hewes, 1973. One proposed modality of language evolution is that of gestural communication, defined as communicative movements of hands without using or touching objects (de Waal, 2003).

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confidence: 99%

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Usage and comprehension of manual gestures in wild chimpanzees

2012

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An important element in understanding the evolutionary origin of human language is to explore homologous traits in cognition and communication between primates and humans (Burling, 1993, Hewes, 1973. One proposed modality of language evolution is that of gestural communication, defined as communicative movements of hands without using or touching objects (de Waal, 2003). While homologies between primate calls and language have been relatively well explored, we still have a limited understanding of how cognitive abilities may have shaped the characteristics of primate gestures (Corballis, 2003). In this Ph.D. research, I investigated the cognitive skills underlying gestural communication in both wild and language trained chimpanzees, with a special focus on the repertoire and the intentionality of production and comprehension. The study of cognitive skills underlying the production of the repertoire and the role of intentionality is important because these skills are cognitively demanding and are a prerequisite in human infants for their ability to acquire language (Baldwin, 1995, Olson, 1993. My research suggests that chimpanzee gestural communication is cognitively complex and may be homologous with the cognitive skills evident in pre-verbal infants on the cusp of language acquisition.Chimpanzees display a multifaceted and complex signal repertoire of manual gestures. These gestures are the prototypes, within which there is variation, and between which the iv boundaries are not clear-cut, but there is gradation apparent along several morphological components. Both wild and language trained chimpanzees communicate intentionally about their perceived desires and the actions that they want the recipients to undertake. They do not just express their emotions, but they communicate flexibly by adjusting their communicative tactics in response to the comprehension states of the recipient. Whilst chimpanzees communicate their intentions flexibly, the messages conveyed are specific. However, recipients comprehend gestures flexibly in light of the signaller"s overall intentions.Whilst wild and language trained chimpanzee gestural communication revealed similar cognitive characteristics, language trained chimpanzees outperformed wild apes in that they had ability to use signals which made distinctions that human deictic words can make. Whilst these differences between wild and language trained chimpanzees may be due to the different methodological approaches used, it is conceivable that language training may have influenced captive ape cognitive skills in the representational domain. These results from wild and language trained chimpanzees indicate that chimpanzees possess some form of cognitive skills necessary for language development and that cognitive skills underlying repertoire and use in chimpanzees are a shared capacity between humans, other apes and a common ancestor. These findings render theories of the gestural origins of language more plausible.v

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References

2011

Foundations of Voice Studies

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Primate Calls, Human Language, and Nonverbal Communication [and Comments and Reply]

Cited by 204 publications

References 1 publication

Neuropragmatics: Neuropsychological Constraints on Formal Theories of Dialogue

Neuropragmatics: Neuropsychological Constraints on Formal Theories of Dialogue

Usage and comprehension of manual gestures in wild chimpanzees

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