Psychology 1B - Grade: 62 Essay On Human And Animal Communication PDF

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“Language is the biologically given communication system of our species, and appears in all cultures.” According to (Gleitman, Gross & Reisberg, 2010) Language is considered a powerful aspect of life for humans, but also a gift. However, when examining language in nonhumans, it can be defined differently. Languages are alike insofar as they are the central means for transmitting beliefs, desires and ideas from one human to another. The world of language can be said to be extremely diverse in the terms of animals. For example, the bonobo chimpanzee may have more capabilities and understanding when it comes to language in comparison with bees, or a dog may be able to understand language more than a dolphin. Despite this being said, the main inquisition is to what extent can these animals (nonhumans) use the language that they ‘understand’. Recent studies reveal interesting commonalities between human and animal communication. (Gleitman, et al. 2010) Nonetheless, there are also numerous differences. When taking language into consideration, we understand that it is the way we combine words together in order to generate an infinite number of possible messages and meanings. Language is part of our human endowment – whereby it has to be learned by children rather than being almost wholly innate as in many other animal species. For nonhumans, through studies, language is proven to be extremely limited. Language is known in the human world to be significantly diverse, and apparent in all cultures, but is it the same for nonhumans? It is commonly known that chimpanzees are humans closest living relatives, with bonobos (dominated by females) sharing 98.7% of its genome with human. (Johnson, 2016) Recent and past studies have shown the capabilities of bonobos when it comes to communicating with humans, with results being surprising. One of the many experiments that is particularly fascinating was carried out in 2003, whereby psychologist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh demonstrates how bonobos (Kanzi) can communicate with her and each other using more than 348 symbols. Savage-Rumbaugh and her colleagues adapted Kanzis knowledge through adding more symbols to his keyboard. In the begin, Kanzi started off with only 6 symbols, which progressed into an incredible 348 symbols. Some symbols on the keyboard refer to significantly familiar objects such as key, fruit and yoghurt. In addition to this, some words are considered fairly abstract for example now and bad. Through the experiment, we also learn that in addition to the 348 symbols understood by Kanzi, he also understands up to 3,000 spoken English words. In order to prove this allegation, someone in another room pronounced words that Kanzi heard through a set of headphones. Kanzi would then point to the appropriate symbol to match on his keyboard. The most impressive aspect conveyed from this experiment was, after futilely trying to train Kanzi's adopted mother to use the keyboard, the researchers found that the 2 1/2-year-old chimp, who apparently had been eavesdropping all along, had picked up the impressive vocabulary on his own. However, despite this, many experiments carried out have been extremely limited. According to (Gleitman, et al. 2010) “no nonhuman has mastered the distinction between plural and singular nouns, or verb tense, or any means of marking words for their grammatical class, while every human child of normal mentality does so by the age of 3 or 4, without explicit training.” With this being said, nonhumans, bonobos in particular, can use language to a great extent as although they may not be able to use it in the same way humans do, it is clear that they understand the language and therefore can communicate with humans in certain ways. Furthermore, according to (Gleitman, et al. 2010) a chimp may learn to

connect a hand sign with an item of food, sceptics like Dr. Terrace argued, but this could be a matter of simple conditioning, like Pavlov's dogs learning to salivate at the sound of a bell.

Another prime example whereby we learn that nonhumans can understand language, however cannot use it themselves is through Rico the comprehending (but not talking) dog. (Gleitman, et al. 2010) We are informed that the border collie knows the names of his 200 toys and will fetch for any of them upon verbal communication. Despite this been said, it is stated “But alas, though Rico comprehends so well, his own speech is limited to the usual border-collie barks, yelps and growls.” Therefore, this further supports the statement of nonhumans being able to use language to a certain extent. Furthermore, in addition to the bonobos and dogs, researchers have tried to have tried to teach language-like systems to animals in the laboratory using a number of communication processes including hand gestures, coloured plastic, or symbols on a computer screen that stand for words. However, (Gleitman, et al. 2010) state “these animals have made impressive progress - increasing their gesture “vocabulary” (to roughly 500 “words” in the case of the bonobo Kanzi and close to 300 for the border collie Rico)” This statement demonstrates that although these animals are clearly limited to their use of language, they are able to expand and further their knowledge in applying the language as a form of communication to other animals and humans. In conclusion, from recent studies and experiments, it has been portrayed that nonhumans can use language to a certain extent. Although they cannot use language verbally, they can understand it in order to react and converse through actions. Both examples demonstrate this with the bonobo highlighting similarities with humans when it comes to language. However, both the bonobo and dog are restricted from speaking, as they do not have the physical ability to, despite the intellectual capability being in place. As previously stated, we are told that animals have the capability to expand their knowledge when it comes to languages, which was significantly highlighted through the fact that Kanzi started off with only understanding 6 symbols, which progressed significantly into the hundreds. Referring back to the question, to what extent can nonhumans use language, from research and experiments there is no doubt that animals can interpret language and use it to some extent.

Reference list Gleitman, H., Gross, J., & Reisberg, D. (2010). Psychology (8th ed., p. 379). Gleitman, H., Gross, J., & Reisberg, D. (2010). Psychology (8th ed., p. 414). JOHNSON, G. (2016). Chimp Talk Debate: Is It Really Language?. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/06/science/chimp-talk-debate-is-itreally-language.html?pagewanted=all Raffaele, P. (2006). Speaking Bonobo. Smithsonian. Retrieved 12 February 2016, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/speaking-bonobo-134931541/?no-ist...