The central importance of information in studies of animal communication

Seyfarth, Robert M.; Cheney, Dorothy L.; Bergman, Thore J.; Fischer, Julia; Zuberbühler, Klaus; Hammerschmidt, Kurt

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.04.012

Cited by 216 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 75 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

159

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…1948) and is consistent with the general usage of this term in disciplines that study animal behavior such as behavioral ecology and animal psychology (Font and Carazo 2010;Seyfarth et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Suzuki

2016

Ecological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What do animal signals mean? This is a central question in studies on animal communication.Research into the semantics of animal signals began in 1980, with evidence that alarm calls of a non-human primate designated predators as external referents. These studies have challenged the historical assumption that such referential signaling is a unique feature of human language and produced a paradigm shift in animal communication research. Over the past two decades, an increasing number of field studies have revealed similar complexity in anti-predator communication of birds. The acoustic structures of avian alarm calls show a high degree of variation in pitch, duration, shape, and repetition rate. In addition to such distinct and graded variations, several birds combine discrete types of notes or calls into higher complex sequences. These variations in alarm calls are typically associated with the predator's attributes, such as predator type and distance, and receivers respond to them with appropriate anti-predator behaviors. Although alarm calls of several bird species, as well as those of monkeys, appear to denote predator attributes, almost nothing is known about the cognitive processes that underlie the production and perception of these signals. In this review, I explore the existing evidence for referential signaling in birds and highlight the importance of the cognitive approach to animal communication research. I hope this review will promote further investigations of alarm-calling behavior in birds and will help enhance our understanding of the ecology and evolution of semantic communication.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Suzuki

2016

Ecological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, larger vocal sequences have a faster tempo-they contain calls of shorter duration, with shorter gaps in between, and therefore are delivered at a higher rate. This variation in sequence tempo may reflect the emotional arousal state of the vocalizing animal (55) and potentially signal such information to receivers (56). A promising avenue for future research will be to investigate whether these longer and faster sequences have a different communicative function from shorter and slower sequences, such as expressing affective state to potential listeners (55).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gelada vocal sequences follow Menzerath’s linguistic law

Gustison

Semple

Ferrer-i-Cancho

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Identifying universal principles underpinning diverse natural systems is a key goal of the life sciences. A powerful approach in addressing this goal has been to test whether patterns consistent with linguistic laws are found in nonhuman animals. Menzerath's law is a linguistic law that states that, the larger the construct, the smaller the size of its constituents. Here, to our knowledge, we present the first evidence that Menzerath's law holds in the vocal communication of a nonhuman species. We show that, in vocal sequences of wild male geladas (Theropithecus gelada), construct size (sequence size in number of calls) is negatively correlated with constituent size (duration of calls). Call duration does not vary significantly with position in the sequence, but call sequence composition does change with sequence size and most call types are abbreviated in larger sequences. We also find that intercall intervals follow the same relationship with sequence size as do calls. Finally, we provide formal mathematical support for the idea that Menzerath's law reflects compression-the principle of minimizing the expected length of a code. Our findings suggest that a common principle underpins human and gelada vocal communication, highlighting the value of exploring the applicability of linguistic laws in vocal systems outside the realm of language.communication | language | primate | Menzerath | Zipf

show abstract

“…How to best characterize the underlying psychological mechanisms responsible for the observed acoustic variability is part of an ongoing debate (e.g., Seyfarth, et al, 2010). One approach has been to abstain from introducing psychological variables, for example, by describing social calls as plastic structures that encode variables, such as social affinities (Lemasson & Hausberger, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic variability and individual distinctiveness in the vocal repertoire of red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus).

Bouchet¹,

Blois‐Heulin²,

Pellier³

et al. 2012

Journal of Comparative Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Acoustic variability and individual distinctiveness of vocal signals are expected to vary with both their communicative function and the need for individual recognition during social interactions. So far, few attempts have been made to comparatively study these features across the different call types within a species' vocal repertoire. We collected recordings of the six most common call types from 14 red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) to assess intra-and interindividual acoustic variability, using a range of temporal and frequency parameters. Acoustic variability was highest in contact and threat calls, intermediate in food calls, and lowest in loud and alarm calls. Individual distinctiveness was high in contact, threat, loud and alarm calls, and low in food calls. In sum, calls mediating intragroup social interactions were structurally most variable and individually most distinctive, highlighting the key role that social factors must have played in the evolution of the vocal repertoire in this species. We discuss these findings in light of existing hypotheses of acoustic variability in primate vocal behavior.

show abstract

The central importance of information in studies of animal communication

Cited by 216 publications

References 75 publications

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Gelada vocal sequences follow Menzerath’s linguistic law

Acoustic variability and individual distinctiveness in the vocal repertoire of red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus).

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About