Effects of Environment on Animal Communication

1. Effects of Environment on Animal Communication Nicholas Bombard

2. Introduction • Compared to humans, animals have very limited communication abilities • Humans are the only species to be able to use language • The ability to use language had to come from somewhere • Different environments can support the development of more complex communication

3. Research Question(s) • Can environment enhance the development of communication in animals? • Did changes in the environment create the need for better communication that eventually evolved into language?

4. Literature Review • Production, usage, and comprehension in animal vocalizations • Animals have a very limited ability to make different sounds compared to humans • Limited ability to use sounds • Able to learn meanings for a variety of sounds

5. Literature Review • Geographical variation on the vocalizations of the suboscine thorn-tailed rayadito aphrastura spinicauda • The same species can make different sounds based on environment • Co-operation and communication in apes and humans • Cooperation among apes is focused on immediate and present goals while humans can communicate about future goals

6. Literature Review • The impact of environment on the comprehension of declarative communication in apes. • Apes raised in environments that encourage complex communication can understand it better

7. Literature Review • Nonhuman primates do declare! A comparison of declarative symbol and gesture use in two children, two bonobos, and a chimpanzee. • Apes raised in an environment that exposes them to complex communication can learn how to use it • Encouraged to use complex communication and provided with tools to help

8. Literature Review • Road to language: Longer, more believable, more relevant. • Development of language skills based on genes and environment • Part of the environment is those that teach how to communicate • Need both the proper genes and environment to be able to use complex communication well

9. Conclusion • Environment can enhance an individual's communication skills • Over time the right environment can allow for the development of complex communication by making it a beneficial trait • Eventually complex communication was able to develop into language because of the right environmental pressures • Passed on and improved by genes and teaching

10. References Lyn, H. Russell, J. L., & Hopkins, W. D. (2010). The impact of environment on the comprehension of declarative communication in apes. Psychological Science, 21(3), 360-365. Retrieved from www.scopus.com Lyn, H., Greenfield, P. M., Savage-Rumbaugh, S., Gillespie-Lynch, K., & Hopkins, W. D. (2011). Nonhuman primates do declare! A comparison of declarative symbol and gesture use in two children, two bonobos, and a chimpanzee. Language and Communication 31(1), 63-74. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0271530910000546 Ippi, S., Vasquez, R. A., Van Dongen, W. F. D., & Lazzoni, I. (2011). Geographical variation on the vocalizations of the suboscine thorn-tailed rayadito aphrastura spinicauda. Ibis, 153(4), 789-805. Retrieved from www.scopus.com Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (2010). Production, usage, and comprehension in animal vocalizations. Brain and Language, 115(1), 92-100. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093934X09001473 Brinck, I., & Gardenfors, P. (2003). Co-operation and communication in apes and humans. Mind and Language, 18(5), 484-501. Gardner, R. A. (2006). Road to language: Longer, more believable, more relevant. TheBehavioral and Brain Science, 29(3), 285. Gardner, R. A. (2006). Road to language: Longer, more believable, more relevant. TheBehavioral and Brain Science, 29(3), 285. 

11. Questions?