The development of gestural communication in young chimpanzees

Tomasello, Michael; George, B; Kruger, Ann Cale; Jeffrey, Michael; Farrar, Kerrie; Evans, Andrea Nichole

doi:10.1016/s0047-2484(85)80005-1

Cited by 355 publications

(250 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…These catalogues of gestural behaviour from captivity were compiled in greatest detail by van Hooff (1971), Tomasello (Tomasello and Zuberbühler, 2002, Tomasello et al, 1985, Tomasello and Frost, 1989, Tomasello and Camaioni, 1997, Tomasello et al, 1984, Liebal (Liebal et al, 2004a) and Pollick (Pollick and de Waal, 2007).…”

Section: Aims Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Liebal et al, 2004a, Leavens et al, 1996, Leavens and Hopkins, 1998, Tomasello et al, 1984, Tomasello et al, 1985, Tomasello and Frost, 1989. Gestural communication in freeranging chimpanzees has not been studied systematically and existing studies are primarily descriptive and based upon opportunistically sampled data on gestural repertoire.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The catalogues of manual gestures in captivity were compiled in greatest detail by van Hooff (1971), Tomasello with colleagues (Tomasello et al, 1985, Tomasello and Frost, 1989, Tomasello and Camaioni, 1997, Tomasello et al, 1984, Liebal with colleagues (Liebal et al, 2004a) and Pollick and de Waal (2007). For instance, Pollick and de Waal (2007) reported 16 manual gesture types in captive chimpanzees, such as arm raise, reach out down and point.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While contextually defined comprehension requires understanding of other"s goals and intentions, semantic comprehension may reflect conditioned, automatic responses, with little cognitive processing involved (Tomasello, 2008). For instance, semantic comprehension has been shown in the vocal domain across a wide variety of species such as chickens (Evans and Evans, 1999), prairie dogs (Slobodchikoff et al, 1991) and marmots (Boero, 1992 (Tomasello et al, 1985, Tomasello et al, 1984, 50% in bonobos (Pika et al, 2005b), 72% in gorillas (Pika et al, 2003) and 80% in orang-utans (Liebal et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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Section: Aims Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Usage and comprehension of manual gestures in wild chimpanzees

2012

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“…One such process that involves two individuals mutually shaping each other's behaviour during the course of repeated interactions is called ontogenetic ritualization [29,89]. Initially, individuals use functional behaviours to affect their partner's behaviour.…”

Section: Gesture Origins (Out Of Actions) (A) Defining a Gesturementioning

confidence: 99%

The origins of non-human primates' manual gestures

Liebal

Call

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The increasing body of research into human and non-human primates' gestural communication reflects the interest in a comparative approach to human communication, particularly possible scenarios of language evolution. One of the central challenges of this field of research is to identify appropriate criteria to differentiate a gesture from other non-communicative actions. After an introduction to the criteria currently used to define non-human primates' gestures and an overview of ongoing research, we discuss different pathways of how manual actions are transformed into manual gestures in both phylogeny and ontogeny. Currently, the relationship between actions and gestures is not only investigated on a behavioural, but also on a neural level. Here, we focus on recent evidence concerning the differential laterality of manual actions and gestures in apes in the framework of a functional asymmetry of the brain for both hand use and language.

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A Very Long Look Back at Language Development

Hobaiter¹

2021

Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology

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The development of gestural communication in young chimpanzees

Cited by 355 publications

References 7 publications

Usage and comprehension of manual gestures in wild chimpanzees

Usage and comprehension of manual gestures in wild chimpanzees

The origins of non-human primates' manual gestures

A Very Long Look Back at Language Development

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