英语语言学课件Chapter 4 Animals and Human Language

Animals and Human Language
Difficult to conceive animals “understanding” human language, even less likely to produce human language
One species of animals do not produce the signals of another species. Horse will not learn to produce Moo among cows; Puppy and baby growing together
produced
Sarah
Taught to use plastic shapes for comm Systematically trained to associate
shapes with objects or actions Remained animal in cage Trained with food rewards to
Washoe
Beatrix and Allen Gardener taught chimp Washoe to use ASL
Beginning 1966, 3.5 years, she came to use signs for more than 100 words
She even combined signs to form ‘sentence’ Even inventions in her sign use Understood more signs than actually
Animals and Human Language
Human language: unique form of communication
Other creatures cannot develop an understanding of human mode of expression
Stimulus-response of animals: Riders say WHOA Say Heel to dogs Circus animals go Up,Down, Roll over, etc
Nim Chimpsky
Nim Chimpsky = Noam Chomsky? Chomsky claimed that language is an innate
ability and unique to the human species Nim developed an ability to use language in
Chimpanzees and பைடு நூலகம்anguage
99% basic genetics in common with human
1930s, 2 scientists(Luella and Withrop Kellogg) raised chimp with their son and could understand 100 words, but could not produce
(250) 8 years old = 2.5 human child in speaking
English, see moive Quest for Fire
Barestrudiments
We have answered some questions, but not all. We still do not havea uncontroversial definition of “using langauge”
The Controversy
Sherman, Austin and Kanzi
Sherman and Austin First to communicate with each other using a
version of the printed symbols of Yerkish Matata and her son Kanzi Kanzi exposed to language using Kanzi developed a large symbol vocabulary
1940s, (Catherine and Keith Hayes) chimp Viki living like a human child, shaping her mouth, it managed to produce some words: mama,papa, cup
Remarkable achievement since other primates do not posess the human vocal tract suitable for producing human speech sounds
much the same way as Washoe Terrace argue that both Nim and Washoe only
appeared to use signs as language
Hans, Buzz and Doris
German Clever Hans Dolphins Buzz and Doris
Both Sarah and Lan demonstrated an ability ot use what look like logographic codes and basic structures in ways which resemble the use of language
Sarah and Lana
Skepticism regarding these linguistic skills (P33)
The strongest arguments aginst accepting the achievements of Washoe, Sarah and Lana put forward by the psychologist Herbert Terrace
manipulate a set of symbols Symbol is arbitrary
Lana
Similar training technique with Sarah
Language was Yerkish: set of symbols on a large keyboard linked to a computer