Animal Communication/Human Language Origin Flashcards
(44 cards)
who was the first person to compare human nervous system to animal nervous system
darwin
natural selection
animals will keep and pass down traits that pose as an advantage
fitness
animal with advantage traits will pass them down to next generation; find a mate and reproduce successfully
survival adaptation
giraffe can reach for food at higher elevations when there might not be food at lower levels
reproduction adaptation
makes them attractive to mate
- pretty colours
ethology
study of animal behaviour and communication
reasons why animals communicate
- food - alter others of food source
- friend and foe
- finding a mate
- marking territory
different ways communication can be expressed
- visual display - mate attraction via colours
- vocal display - song birds sing to attract mates
- motor display - honey bees
how do honey bees communicate
they communcate spatial knowledge to other bees through the waggle dance
what is the waggle dance
the bees dance to give two pieces of information
- the direction relative to the sun and the distance
rote learning
memorization by repetition
- can imagine a use for the stick and alters structure of it
rule learning
aquire knowledge of a fixed standard that defines a category
- if you learn one rule, you can take basic rule and apply it across situations over time
bowerbird
build a bower where the female stands to watch the male performance
what makes a bower bird attractive/better mate
- high quality bower
- lots of blue colour in the bird and from other objects the bower bird can find to decorate the bower
birdsong
they learn one specific song when they are young and continue to sing it throughout their life
memorization phase (zebra finch birdsong)
early phase after they are born and they hear the song from dad and remember it
sensorimotor phase (zebra finch birdsong)
undergo the exact motor movements to produce the song
- aka babbelling phase in human babies
subsong
experimenting with sounds of language but not quite there yet
crystallized song
when the song sounds the way it should and it becomes a permanent song
brains of songbirds vs non-songbirds
- males regions of the brain for singing are more developed because they are the ones doing the singing
- the brain region is more developed during spring time because it is mating season and they do lots of singing
similarities and differences of vocal learning in songbirds vs humans
similarities:
- tutor
- refinement through experience
differences:
- vocal repitoire
- no difference in brain regions from male to female
- purpose: songbirds attract mates, humans have many different reasons for vocalization
vocal mimicry
parrots
- make lots of different calls
- greater vocal repetition than compared to songbirds
fork-tailed drongos
- hangs around other birds to mimic their alarm calls (can cause other animals to scurry away so these birds can swoop in and steal food)
- truth and lie in calls they make
what communication do bats use to find food
they use echolocation - ultra high frequency chirps that bounce back off moth
- emit more signals the closer it gets to the moth
