LING exam 2
In the lecture, we decided that bees figure out the way to a food source by using the information that was encoded in the bee dance. But there were other potential explanations for how bees find food. What were these explanations, and how did we rule them out? (how did we find evidence that bees really use the dance to know where the food is?)
There were other explanations posed for how bees find food. We thought that the bees just followed the original bee. We ruled this out by drugging bees, which messed with the duration, which made other bees over/under shoot the distance. We also blinded the bees, which made it impossible for them to direct the other bees, which made them unable to find the food.
Washoe was a chimpanzee who was taught American Sign Language. She once saw a swan at a lake and signed WATER BIRD. Is this unambiguous evidence that Washoe had linguistic creativity? What are some of the concerns associated with the Washoe study?
This is not unambiguous evidence that Washoe had linguistic creativity. Washoe could have been signing "water" and "bird." With the Washoe study, it's possible the things the researchers recorded Washoe signing were not accurate, they had been put through a filter that made them more like human speech.
How do we make different sounds sound different? What is the general mechanism we use to make our sounds be different?
We make different sounds sound different by positioning our mouths in a very precise way for each sound. The general mechanism we use is our vocal tract.
Can birds recognize the songs of their own species as different from the songs of the other species? How detailed is their knowledge of the features of their songs (are they aware that their species' songs use not just certain notes but also certain arrangements of notes)? How did researchers figure out how much birds do or do not know about the elements of birdsong?
Yes. They are aware of the arrangements of notes. Researchers played a song with the right arrangement but the wrong notes and the birds were able to recognize it. Researchers played a song from a slightly different species and the birds were able to distinguish
For what reasons (or what functional purposes) do animals communicate?
Animals mainly communicate to warn others of threats to the community, tell their community how to get food, or find mates. No jokes, reflexivity, etc.
What are the three subfields of phonetics given in Yule's textbook?
Articulatory phonetics- how speech sounds are made/ articulated, Acoustic phonetics- physical properties of speech like sound waves, and Auditory phonetics- the perception via the ear of speech sounds
What 3 properties regarding food sources can the bee dance communicate? How is each feature of the food source represented in the dance? What can we conclude when we compare this communication system with human language?
Bee dances can communicate direction, distance, and quality of a food source. Direction is communicated by the angle the dance is performed in. distance is conveyed by the length of the dance. Quality of food is communicated by quickness in the waggle dance and length in the round dance. When we compare this communication system with human language we can conclude that bee communication is not a language as it is not infinitely creative.
What are the two types of vocalizations that birds produce? What kind of messages do they transmit? Can they create new messages by changing parts of their songs, similar to how we can create different sentences in human languages?
Birds can produce calls (simple, one-noted, innate, variety of functions) and some birds can produce songs (complex arrangements, learned, mating/territory) They cannot create new messages by changing parts of their songs.
Briefly describe the system of alarm calls used by Campbell's monkeys. How does it work? What is communicated? Does it show any combinatorial properties? And, if so, are they the same as the kind of combinatorial properties that human languages have? Why or why not?
Campbell's monkeys have different calls for different threats. Krak for leopards and hok for eagles. A threat is always communicated. It does show combinatorial properties. "Boom boom krak" means maybe a leopard. They are not the same kind of combinatorial properties as human languages because they are not infinitely combinatorial and cannot be placed on things that aren't threats.
Who was Clever Hans, and what is the "Clever Hans effect?" Which example of animal communication that we've learned about might the Clever Hans effect be relevant to?
Clever Hans was a horse that could supposedly do math. It was revealed that he wasn't actually doing math. He read the room to know when to stop stomping his hoof. The "Clever Hans effect" is the phenomenon where we believe animals are communicating when they are really just responding to stimuli. This is relevant to the examples of language use and comprehension used by primates, as they might just be really good at responding to stimuli.
We discussed some vowel sounds that are created by moving from one position to another. What is the name for that kind of vowel?
Diphthong
Based on the videos we watched during the Discussion section, what is elephant rumbling? Do elephants use any other means of communication?
Elephant rumbling is when an elephant creates a low vibration that can travel through the ground to great distances to warn other elephants of a threat. Elephants probably do use other means of communication but the rumble and the stomp were all we discussed.
What does it mean to say that human language has "duality of patterning?"
Human language has a limited number of sounds that can be combined to make an infinite number of meanings
What properties do we use to characterize human language?
Language has an arbitrary symbolic system, language is infinitely creative, language is combinatorial and hierarchical, language is rule-governed, and language contains the duality of patterning.
Briefly describe the fiddler crab communication system. What can we conclude when we compare this communication system with human language?
Male fiddler crabs wave their claws. The faster they wave it the more attractive they are to female crabs. It does not combine pieces or express anything other than a mating call. It is iffy on the arbitrary argument. This is not language.
What are the three features used to describe consonants?
Manner of articulation- how you close/constrict the vocal tract, place of articulation- where you close/constrict the vocal tract, and voicing- whether the vocal folds are vibrating
Is language acquisition subject to a critical period during which the child must be exposed to language in order to fully acquire it? Are there other species we discussed that appear to have a critical period for acquiring their communication system?
Natural acquisition occurs between 2-puberty. Most animals are born with innate methods of communication.
The following questions are about the chimpanzee Nim Chimpsky, who was the subject of a study by Herbert Terrace: Was Nim able to learn any signs? Did Nim show evidence of having acquired a rule-governed language system with linguistic creativity, on par with human language? What did Terrace conclude from the research with Nim?
Nim was able to produce a combination of signs, mostly by imitating combinations that the researchers had just made. The evidence shows he kinda just imitated people and has no concept of a rule-governed language system or creativity.
Kanzi was a bonobo who was taught to comprehend spoken English and use a Yerkish keyboard for production. Did we see any unambiguous evidence that Kanzi knew the structure-based rules of English?
No, it is not clear that he really understands words order, or just does the activity that is most natural with the combination of objects. Looks like some of these actions have been practiced before.
What 4 properties do we use to describe vowels? Which property is used only for certain sounds in our class?
Rounded or unrounded, high/med/low, front/central/back, and tense or lax.
In what ways do we see parallels between birdsong acquisition and human language acquisition?
Some birdsongs are learned. There is a "critical period" for learning. Different communities of the same species sometimes develop regional "dialects"
What were some of the concerns that we raised regarding the studies with primates that we discussed in class?
Some of them were compelling, but none provided evidence that couldn't be explained by behavior-reinforcement.
Why do linguistics need the IPA to describe the phonetic features of sounds (instead of relying on spelling?)
Spelling is a poor reflection of how words are actually pronounced, especially in english. There are also sounds that are not spelled out. With the IPA, you get a comprehensive collection of all sounds able to be produced in all languages.
Is the bee dance system learned based on experience, or is it innate? How did researchers find out?
The bee dance system is innate. Researchers found this out by placing newborn bees in a new hive and seeing if they do their hive's dance. The bees did the dance from their own hive.
According to our discussion of meerkats in the Discussion section, what is the main overarching purpose of different meerkat calls?
The main purpose of different meerkat calls is to warn the pack of predators or call for help. The different calls correspond to different threats.
How did the researchers studying elephants and those studying meerkats investigate the elephant and meerkat communication systems, according to what you learned in Discussion Section?
The researchers studying elephants investigated elephant communication systems by creating seismic activity under one elephant's feet in captivity to see how she responded. The researchers studying meerkats played a series of different recordings of meerkat cries in the wild to see how a pack of meerkats responded.
