human and animal communication essay

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Interspecies Communication: Animal-Human Encounters and the Potential of Dialogue across Species Boundaries

2020, Master Thesis

In the light of ongoing research on other animal species and their communicative capacities, we may wonder how much other-than-human animals would have to say if we knew how to listen. Yet, even though scientific studies continue to yield fascinating insights into animal languages, other animals are still widely perceived as ‘voiceless others’ – beings without language who are too alien from us to be understood. This linguistic bias obscures not only their remarkable communicative abilities but also our moral responsibility of responding to them. Departing from the assumption that other animals do indeed speak and that dialogue between 'us' and 'them' is possible, this project explores whether there is a way from the long-assumed muteness of our animal others toward forms of communicating, including nonverbal behaviours, we share with them.

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Signal Modalities

Animals use a variety of sensory channels, or signal modalities, for communication. Visual signals are very effective for animals that are active during the day. Some visual signals are permanent advertisements; for example, the bright red epaulets of male red-winged blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus, which are always displayed, are important for territory defense. When researchers experimentally blackened epaulets, males were subject to much higher rates of intrusion by other males (Smith 1972). Alternatively, some visual signals are actively produced by an individual only under appropriate conditions. Male green anoles, Anolis carolinensis, bob their head and extend a brightly colored throat fan (dewlap) when signaling territory ownership. Acoustic communication is also exceedingly abundant in nature, likely because sound can be adapted to a wide variety of environmental conditions and behavioral situations. Sounds can vary substantially in amplitude, duration, and frequency structure, all of which impact how far the sound will travel in the environment and how easily the receiver can localize the position of the sender. For example, many passerine birds emit pure-tone alarm calls that make localization difficult, while the same species produce more complex, broadband mate attraction songs that allow conspecifics to easily find the sender (Marler 1955). A particularly specialized form of acoustic communication is seen in microchiropteran bats and cetaceans that use high-frequency sounds to detect and localize prey. After sound emission, the returning echo is detected and processed, ultimately allowing the animal to build a picture of their surrounding environment and make very accurate assessments of prey location. Compared to visual and acoustic modalities, chemical signals travel much more slowly through the environment since they must diffuse from the point source of production. Yet, these signals can be transmitted over long distances and fade slowly once produced. In many moth species, females produce chemical cues and males follow the trail to the female’s location. Researchers attempted to tease apart the role of visual and chemical signaling in silkmoths, Bombyx mori , by giving males the choice between a female in a transparent airtight box and a piece of filter paper soaked in chemicals produced by a sexually receptive female. Invariably, males were drawn to the source of the chemical signal and did not respond to the sight of the isolated female (Schneider 1974; Figure 3). Chemical communication also plays a critical role in the lives of other animals, some of which have a specialized vomeronasal organ that is used exclusively to detect chemical cues. For example, male Asian elephants, Elaphus maximus , use the vomeronasal organ to process chemical cues in female’s urine and detect if she is sexually receptive (Rasmussen et al . 1982).

Figure 3 Male silkmoths are more strongly attracted to the pheromones produced by females (chemical signal) than the sight of a female in an airtight box (visual signal). Tactile signals, in which physical contact occurs between the sender and the receiver, can only be transmitted over very short distances. Tactile communication is often very important in building and maintaining relationship among social animals. For example, chimpanzees that regularly groom other individuals are rewarded with greater levels of cooperation and food sharing (de Waal 1989). For aquatic animals living in murky waters, electrical signaling is an ideal mode of communication. Several species of mormyrid fish produce species-specific electrical pulses, which are primarily used for locating prey via electrolocation, but also allow individuals searching for mates to distinguish conspecifics from heterospecifics. Foraging sharks have the ability to detect electrical signals using specialized electroreceptor cells in the head region, which are used for eavesdropping on the weak bioelectric fields of prey (von der Emde 1998).

Signal Functions

Some of the most extravagant communication signals play important roles in sexual advertisement and mate attraction. Successful reproduction requires identifying a mate of the appropriate species and sex, as well as assessing indicators of mate quality. Male satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus , use visual signals to attract females by building elaborate bowers decorated with brightly colored objects. When a female approaches the bower, the male produces an elaborate dance, which may or may not end with the female allowing the male to copulate with her (Borgia 1985). Males that do not produce such visual signals have little chance of securing a mate. While females are generally the choosy sex due to greater reproductive investment, there are species in which sexual roles are reversed and females produce signals to attract males. For example, in the deep-snouted pipefish, Syngnathus typhle , females that produce a temporary striped pattern during the mating period are more attractive to males than unornamented females (Berglund et al . 1997). Communication signals also play an important role in conflict resolution, including territory defense. When males are competing for access to females, the costs of engaging in physical combat can be very high; hence natural selection has favored the evolution of communication systems that allow males to honestly assess the fighting ability of their opponents without engaging in combat. Red deer, Cervus elaphus , exhibit such a complex signaling system. During the mating season, males strongly defend a group of females, yet fighting among males is relatively uncommon. Instead, males exchange signals indicative of fighting ability, including roaring and parallel walks. An altercation between two males most often escalates to a physical fight when individuals are closely matched in size, and the exchange of visual and acoustic signals is insufficient for determining which animal is most likely to win a fight (Clutton-Brock et al . 1979). Communication signals are often critical for allowing animals to relocate and accurately identify their own young. In species that produce altricial young, adults regularly leave their offspring at refugia, such as a nest, to forage and gather resources. Upon returning, adults must identify their own offspring, which can be especially difficult in highly colonial species. Brazilian free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis , form cave colonies containing millions of bats; when females leave the cave each night to forage, they place their pup in a crèche that contains thousands of other young. When females return to the roost, they face the challenge of locating their own pups among thousands of others. Researchers originally thought that such a discriminatory task was impossible, and that females simply fed any pups that approached them, yet further work revealed that females find and nurse their own pup 83% of the time (McCracken 1984, Balcombe 1990). Females are able to make such fantastic discriminations using a combination of spatial memory, acoustic signaling, and chemical signaling. Specifically, pups produce individually-distinct “isolation calls”, which the mother can recognize and detect from a moderate distance. Upon closer inspection of a pup, females use scent to further confirm the pup’s identity. Many animals rely heavily on communication systems to convey information about the environment to conspecifics, especially close relatives. A fantastic illustration comes from vervet monkeys, Chlorocebus pygerythrus , in which adults give alarm calls to warn colony members about the presence of a specific type of predator. This is especially valuable as it conveys the information needed to take appropriate actions given the characteristics of the predator (Figure 4). For example, emitting a “cough” call indicates the presence of an aerial predator, such as an eagle; colony members respond by seeking cover amongst vegetation on the ground (Seyfarth & Cheney 1980). Such an evasive reaction would not be appropriate if a terrestrial predator, such as a leopard, were approaching.

Figure 4 Vervet monkeys. Many animals have sophisticated communication signals for facilitating integration of individuals into a group and maintaining group cohesion. In group-living species that form dominance hierarchies, communication is critical for maintaining ameliorative relationships between dominants and subordinates. In chimpanzees, lower-ranking individuals produce submissive displays toward higher-ranking individuals, such as crouching and emitting “pant-grunt” vocalizations. In turn, dominants produce reconciliatory signals that are indicative of low aggression. Communication systems also are important for coordinating group movements. Contact calls, which inform individuals about the location of groupmates that are not in visual range, are used by a wide variety of birds and mammals. Overall, studying communication not only gives us insight into the inner worlds of animals, but also allows us to better answer important evolutionary questions. As an example, when two isolated populations exhibit divergence over time in the structure of signals use to attract mates, reproductive isolation can occur. This means that even if the populations converge again in the future, the distinct differences in critical communication signals may cause individuals to only select mates from their own population. For example, three species of lacewings that are closely related and look identical are actually reproductively isolated due to differences in the low-frequency songs produced by males; females respond much more readily to songs from their own species compared to songs from other species (Martinez, Wells & Henry 1992). A thorough understanding of animal communication systems can also be critical for making effective decisions about conservation of threatened and endangered species. As an example, recent research has focused on understanding how human-generated noise (from cars, trains, etc) can impact communication in a variety of animals (Rabin et al . 2003). As the field of animal communication continues to expand, we will learn more about information exchange in a wide variety of species and better understand the fantastic variety of signals we see animals produce in nature.

Vomeronasal organ – auxiliary olfactory organ that detects chemosensory cues

Altricial – the state of being born in an immature state and relying exclusively on parental care for survival during early development

Refugia – areas that provide concealment from predators and/or protection from harsh environmental conditions

Conspecifics – organisms of the same species

References and Recommended Reading

Balcombe, J.P. Vocal recognition of pups by mother Mexican free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana . Animal Behaviour 39 , 960-966 (1990). Berglund, J., Rosenqvist G. and Bernet P. Ornamentation predicts reproductive success in female pipefish. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 40 , 145-150 (1997). Clutton-Brock, T., Albon S., Gibson S. & Guinness F. The logical stag: Adaptive aspects of fighing in the red deer. Animal Behaviour 27 , 211-225 (1979). de Waal F.B.M. Food sharing and reciprocal obligations among chimpanzees. Journal of Human Evolution 18 , 433–459 (1989).

Hauser, M. 1997. The Evolution of Communication . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Lloyd, J.E. Aggressive mimicry in Photuris: signal repertoires by femmes fatales. Science 197 , 452-453 (1975).

Marler, P. Characteristics of some animal calls. Nature 176 , 6-8 (1955). Martinez Well, M. & Henry C.S. The role of courtship songs in reproductive isolation among populations of green lacewings of the genus Chrysoperla . Evolution 46 , 31-43 (1992). McCracken, G.F. Communal nursing in Mexican free-tailed bat maternity colonies. Science 223 , 1090-1091(1984).

Rabin, L.A., McCowan B., Hooper S.L & Owings D.H. Anthropogenic noise and its effect on animal communication: an interface between comparative psychology and conservation biology. International Journal of Comparative Psychology 16 , 172-192 (2003). Ryan M.J., Tuttle M.D., & Rand A.S. Sexual advertisement and bat predation in a neotropical frog. American Naturalist 119 , 136–139 (1982). Schneider, D. The sex attractant receptors of moths. Scientific American 231 , 28-35 (1974). Seyfarth, R.M., Cheney D.L. & Marler P. Monkey responses to three different alarm calls: Evidence for predator classification and semantic communication. Science 210 , 801-803 (1980). Smith, D. The role of the epaulets in the red-winged blackbird, ( Agelaius phoeniceus ) social system. Behaviour 41 , 251-268 (1972).

Vehrencamp, S.L., Bradbury J.W., & Gibson R.M. The energetic cost of display in male sage grouse. Animal Behaviour 38 , 885-896 (1989). von der Emde, G. Electroreception. In D. H. Evans (ed.). The Physiology of Fishes , pp. 313-343. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press (1998). Wilson, E.O. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (1975).

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10.1: Human Language versus Animal Communication

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Human Language versus Animal Communication, from Sarah Harmon

Video Script

part of it. I know a number of you have felt it was difficult throughout this whole process; I’m not going to argue. But when we talk about the actual neural components to language—how the brain processes language—this is where things get really technical.

For this section on animal vs human communication, this is evidence that we have up to this point. It's still evolving and we're still learning, but I can be more confident with what we're saying and what we're presenting here. There is so much that we're still learning about this thing between our ears and how it processes everything, including language, that this is constantly evolving. Just for a frame of reference, I am recording this mid-August of 2021; by the time you watch this, there could be some significant advances, and I won't know it until we get there. Just know that everything I’m presenting is with a grain of salt, in the sense of I am presenting the latest that we have up to this point. There is much more research to come, there is also more research underway and, additionally, our understanding of everything is changing. I'm confident and what I’m going to present for this chapter, but understand that things are changing.

Let's start off with a discussion that we had back in Chapter 1 when we talked about animal communication and human language. Let's refresh our memories a bit; let's go back to those attributes or hallmarks of human language . We understand that human beings have something that is potentially unique, if not very rare, that this form of communication—we talk with arbitrary signs and signals, we talk about things in front of us and not in front of us., we transmit aspects of our culture of our lives, we make an infinite use of finite means, we only have a certain number of vocabulary or lexicon, we only have a certain number of ways that we can put them into a phrase, and yet we can say anything that comes to mind, that we are productive and creative and constantly changing and adapting with our language, we can talk about all these things and ourselves, we can create, we can express and we can talk about things that are not just here in now, not just immediate needs, we go well beyond that. Just think of this class alone!

There are some similar aspects that we see in other forms of animal communication, but limitedly. Let me explain a little bit. There's no question that all animals have some form of communication to express their needs and basic desires; that's not in-argument. The question is: Are they be able to talk about things, not in front of themselves? Are they able to talk about hypotheticals, or make suggestions? Are they able to talk about things that happened in the past, or what may happen in the future?

Maybe. This is why I’m going to say maybe. We know, for example, that most species of birds are able to describe where food or mates are when they're not in front of them—as if to say, “Oh yeah, that flower, that is about five miles that way. That's a really good place to go get nectar.” We know that birds and bees tend to do this, and we see other mammals, especially other primates, have aspects to this in their forms of communication. However, we're still not sure what they actually do among their species.

We are not talking about mimicking human language, and that's a really crucial piece of this argument. We are not talking about when we try to teach a parrot how to talk, or when we try and force another primate to learn a primary sign language. That is not how they communicate with each other, and so we have to abolish that concept entirely.

Because we understand that what a different species used to communicate with its peers is going to be different than what humans do, the research that I’m referring to requires analyzing, observing and being descriptive about what species do amongst their own kind, and to a lesser extent to other animals in the region.

When we talk about animal communication, I love this old The Far Side comic—I'm sorry, I’m a Gen X and The Far Side was part of my upbringing.

Far Side Comic showing what a human is saying to their dog, and that the dog only understands their name.

It encapsulates everything that we think of about animal communication versus human language, as far as what we say to them versus what they hear and understand. I absolutely love and adore The Far Side , especially this comic but I’ll give you an example in real life. I have a cat her name is Bella and she is 16. When I think about my cat, and I’ve had her since she was a kitten since she was three months old, there's a ton of things that we communicate to each other through voice and through body language. She tells me when she needs attention and love, and when she thinks I need attention and love. She tells me very clearly when she has no food in her bowl or its old food and it's not acceptable anymore. She plays well, not so much anymore, but certainly when she was younger, and she definitely communicates that when I go away, she doesn't like that, and when I come home, she makes that very well known. I communicate to her when she does it behavior that I do not approve of, like if she were to scratch the furniture—which she's never done save for once, and it was to get my attention because I forgot to feed her, so she knows how to get my attention. We have a form of communication. When I am at a low point, she's one of those folks I confide in; I cry and she's there. She cuddles me, and I cuddle her; I tell her all my hopes, fears, desires and wishes. and she purrs.

Now, does she understand what I’m saying? Or, is she like The Far Side comic where she just hears noise and she doesn't know what it is? I don't speak cat and she doesn't speak human, so I don't know what really is able to be communicated as far as displacement, as far as productivity or creativity. We certainly have arbitrary sounds and meanings for those sounds. It has often been said, the cats probably learn to meow because of humans their interactions with humans. When they meow in certain ways, humans do certain activities, and it's a symbiotic relationship. I think there's some of that that's true. But she's not able to tell me her deepest hopes, wishes and desires; she's not able to tell me what she thinks might happen in the future, or what did happen in the past. I don't know what she thinks really, although as I’m saying this, she's walking around my feet right now, because she's clearly telling me she doesn't want me talking like this, she doesn't want the camera and she doesn't want the lights. She wants me on the bed right now; she's able to communicate her needs and basic desires. But not much more. Is that to say that she can do that with a different cat? Who's to say?

Where we have been starting to observe a few pieces with respect to animal communication and whether they might have a language, primarily, has to do with our primate cousins. We know certain things to be true. First of all, their vocal tracks are not like human vocal tracks; they are well more primitive, to the point that they cannot produce the sounds that we can produce. We know that part that goes out the window. Yes, it is true that, certainly for other great apes like chimpanzees and gorillas, some have been taught American Sign Language, in particular, and a few other primary sign languages. But—and this is a huge ‘but’—their learning is very slow and formulaic, and they basically get stuck at the level of a three-year-old. If you remember telegraphic speech from child language acquisition in the previous chapter, they're not able to do much more than that, at least not in ASL. They're also not able to create with ASL very well at all. Therefore, I would argue that you can throw out using any kind of human language with a primate; it's probably not going to work.

All that being said, there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that they might have something primitive. I’m saying the term ‘primitive’, but I do not want you to think that this is a prescriptive use of it. It's saying that this is a very early stage, and maybe in a millennium or several they might have the capability to use a language, much like a human language. At this stage, we don't know. What do we know is that chimpanzees and other great apes are able to teach each other tools. Chimpanzees are particularly good at this, but even we see this in gorillas and some other great apes. We also know that other primates use sounds to communicate things beyond basic needs and desires, not just a warning system, not just to say, “Hey, I need food” or “Hey, I need sex.” You do observe them using the sounds in more arbitrary ways. But—and this is an incredibly important point—we are still trying to decipher what those calls and sounds mean. When we observe our primate cousins teaching each other how to use tools, they are not necessarily using a vocal communication to do it. There is some kind of gesturing. I don't really want to call a sign language yet, because I think it's too early to say that, but our colleagues and primatologist are showing us that our primate cousins, especially the great apes are able to use some kind of communication that's at a higher level than what most other animals do.

Primates are an interesting discussion. What is also interesting, and this is in the video below is Zipf’s Law, and the video is going to go a little more into that. Here's the interesting thing: It could be that dolphins in particular might have a language. You may have heard of studies on dolphin communication before, and this is an area that continuously evolves. Suffice it to say we are very much at the precipice of understanding what other animals do when they need to talk to each other, when they need to communicate to one another, beyond their basic needs, hopes and desires. We are still learning so much about what our own brains do, let alone what other brains of other animals do. So, we'll come back to this—maybe not in this class, and maybe not in the next year, but certainly in the future, so keep an eye on this.

10.1.2 More on Zipf's Law, from NOVA Wonders (PBS)

To finish things off, watch the video below about Zipf's Law, and why we still have so much more to learn about other animals and their methods of communication. (The video is captioned.)

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Essay: Human language and animal communications

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A key aspect of distinguishing humans from other animals has been the development and use of language. Our understanding of language, its characteristics, its development and its evolution have indicated that language did not evolve from a single ability but from a mass of abilities (Bloom & Tinker, 2001). This essay is going to discuss what language is defined as, it will also cover the different theories of language acquisition and whether it is a learnt aspect or an innate trait.

Human language is primarily a communication system, a means for speakers of a language to communicate with one another. Communication systems have been found in other species such as birds, lions and dolphins, however, none of the communication systems of other species have been found to possess all of the characteristics found in human communication (Slater & Bremner, 2011). Human language is apparently the most complex and diverse means of communication known to any species on Earth. ‘It is a symbolic, rule-governed system that is both abstract and productive, characteristics that enable its speakers to produce and comprehend a wide range of utterances.’ (Slater & Bremner, 2011. P323).

Many years ago, a theorist came up with The Infinite Monkey Theorem. ‘The legend goes that if you sit a monkey down at a typewriter for an infinite length of time, then eventually by hitting the keys at random, the monkey will type out the complete works of Shakespeare .’ (Saxton, 2010. P27). Animals like monkeys don’t have language, however, this theory suggests that they could possibly learn the language, if given enough time. The primary assumption is therefore, that humans and monkeys are not that much different when it comes to communication and language. From the following assumptions, it highly suggests that more intelligent animals could possibly acquire language. (Saxton, 2010).

Several species of birds, parrots for instance, have amazing abilities to impersonate the human voice, but does it mean that the birds can actually ‘talk’ and hold a conversation? Many and possibly all animals can, and do communicate, in the sense that they deliberately send information to each other. Dogs bark and cats meow, but they don’t have a language (Saxton, 2010).

The human language has several features that separate it from the animal communications. Charles Hockett, who is an American linguist, worked on this for several years and he came up with 16 defining characteristics of language. Most of these characteristics and features are shared to some extent with animal communication systems (Saxton, 2010). All languages have rules, which are understood and used by both the speaker and the listener. These rules are often referred to as grammar. By following the rules of grammar, speakers as well as listeners can understand each other and therefore communicate. Linguists who study the structure of language, use the term grammar to describe the package of a language. This consists of 3 key elements: phonology, semantics and syntax (Groome, 2014).

‘Phonology is the organisation and patterning of the sounds of the language, including essential elements such as emphasis and intonation. Phonology also records the regional and social variations of sounds among speakers of the same language. These pronunciation differences are known as accents. The study of phonology also includes an understanding of the physical processes involved in making the sounds we call language’ (Whitehead, 1996. P10).

‘The syntax is concerned with words and the ways in which they can be modified and changed themselves, as well as combined together in groups. Modern syntax records and analyses what is heard and written. The rules of syntax emphasize those word changes and word orders which affect meaning and communication. In the same language community there can still be differences between distinctive groups of speakers in the vocabulary and the patterns of syntax they use’ (Whitehead, 1996. P10).

‘Semantics is the study of meaning in a language and takes us beyond the surface of the words, sounds and into the workings of the mind. Word meanings change over time and have dramatically different effects on our perceptions’ (Whitehead, 1996. P11).

There are many different types of language such as verbal, written, body language and also sign language. Sign language is a visual language which is used in the deaf societies. The hands are the main articulators as they are used to express linguistic information. Most of the time, the face replaces the role of the intonation that is used in the spoken language, and it is also being used to convey emotion and emphasis. (Groome, 2014). ‘Sign languages are not just sequences of pantomimed gestures, nor are they typically visual forms of existing spoken languages ‘ for example, British Sign Language (BSL) has very little in common with spoken English Language, having a very different syntax and rules for combining words.’ (Groome, 2014. P307). There are several theories of how children acquire language. These can be divided into 3 categories: innate, behaviourist and social interactionist. A behaviourist theory is a theory of learning that states that development and behaviour can be conditioned and shaped by the environment. The innate theory is about the behaviours and actions that children do instinctively. Social interactionist theory is about the behaviours or actions that children learn to do as a result of gaining information and feedback during interaction with adults and other children (Whitehead, 1996).

Language development is all about the ability to communicate, understand what others are saying and understand things like the facial expressions & body gestures. Understanding of writing and reading is also included. Language and communication development is linked to emotional development as well as cognitive development because in order to communicate, you must think about what others are trying to say and you also have to think about what you are trying to express (Groome, 2014). Many theories of the early development have been influenced by the concept that us, humans, inherit abilities, behaviours and skills. Consequent research since then has shown that the behaviours can also be easily conditioned or shaped. Progressively, the view that is being taken is that both cases apply, although we may be born with specific tendencies. This is sometimes referred to as nature vs nurture debate (Eysenck & Keane, 2015).

Skinner’s operant conditioning theory is a nurture theory. Skinner’s theory suggests that we learn language mainly because efforts at communicating as a baby, are reinforced or rewarded in some way. For example, a baby may get a smile from the parents if they gurgle or a toddler saying ‘more’ and pointing at whatever they want. (Tassoni, 2014). He reasoned that when babies made sounds that the parents did not recognise ‘ they would not receive any attention, whereas sounds that the parents recognised were noticed and reinforced. Skinner called this process selective reinforcement. This approach would explain why children often speak in similar ways to their parents, using familiar intonation and phrases (Tassoni, 2014).

Skinner’s theory does not explain why all babies and children follow the same pattern of learning the language. If Skinner’s theory was correct, you would expect to see that children’s language develops very differently depending on the amount and type of reinforcement that the adults and others give. This theory also does not explain why young children speak in different ways to the adults around them. If children learn by imitating what they hear and by incorrect sounds or sentences not being reinforced, why do children say such things such as ‘wented’ instead of ‘went’? (Foster-Cohen, 2009). Skinner’s theory also doesn’t explain how children learn the rules of language in such a way that they are quickly able to make up their own sentences. Learning through imitation and reinforcement would mean that children would only be repeating what they have heard, rather than being able to invent their own sentences (Saxton, 2010).

Noam Chomsky’s carried out some work on the development of language(1928) and he believes the idea that our ability to learn language is innate. This is a nature/nativist theory. His theory has been generally acknowledged, completely contrasting Skinner’s ideas, as it explains why majority of babies’ language development follows a specific pattern. He became well known because of his suggestion, that all humans have a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) which they are born with. This is not an actual physical part of the brain, but a structure within our brains that allows babies to absorb and understand the rules of the language they are being exposed to (Breedlove & Watson, 2013) (Tassoni, 2014). The brain can actually examine the language, this is a very complex process but it helps us to understand why children can understand and then use their language correctly and so quickly, without even knowing the rules of the language (grammar). The Language Acquisition Device proves that pretty much all babies can learn any language that they are being exposed to and why all babies follow the same pattern of development even though their abilities may be very different (Eysenck & Keane, 2015).

Many linguists, including Chomsky believe that there is such thing as ‘Critical Period’. During this period, babies and children are primed to learn to learn a language and that beyond this period, learning a language without studying it becomes difficult. In some rare cases, children have been found in abusive situations where they have not been spoken to and therefore, they were unable to interact. The most famous of these cases was a girl known as Genie. She was rescued at the age of 13, from a household where she was almost never spoken to. When she was rescued she only knew a couple of words. She was then given intensive support and her number of words increased dramatically, but she did not manage to acquire the syntax (Whitehead, 1996) (Tassoni,2014). During the course of language acquisition, we must learn to perceive and produce particular types of sounds, associate many words with the appropriate meanings, combine the words to produce sentences and discover the rules that govern the manner in which speakers of a language communicate with one another. In order for us to learn, we must sort through and make sense of an impressive amount of information (Eysenck & Keane, 2015).

In conclusion, at least some aspects of language development are dependent on innate capacities and knowledge that are specific to language. A nativist position proposed that both information processing skills specific to the acquisition of language and knowledge about certain aspects of language are believed to be passed on from generation to generation via the genes. According to this view, language is not learned but is innate (Foster-Cohen, 2009). On the other hand, however, another view assumes that children acquire language specific concepts and representations of their experiences with language rather than because the concepts and representations are innately specified. For example, children must learn that nouns are used to refer to certain objects, and therefore acquire the notion of nouns from this type of learning. A true explanation of language development will require a combination of innate and also environmental factors (Foster-Cohen, 2009).

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How Animals Communicate

In recent years enormous advances have taken place in the field of animal communication. This two-volume collection of essays by experts of international renown presents the latest developments in three main divisions. The introduction and the first six chapters examine major theoretical issues, including both the phylogeny and the ontogeny of communication, as well as pertinent aspects of language and other forms of human communication. The chief mechanisms of communication are taken up in turn in the next seven chapters. The heart of the book consists of surveys of communicative processes in selected groups of organisms, ranging from octopuses and squids to social insects, birds, dog-like and cat-like animals, whales, and the Great Apes, and a special chapter devoted to man—chimpanzee communication. A taxonomic index of animals is included. Contributors to How Animals Communicate are George W. Barlow, Gordon M. Burg-hardt, René-Guy Busnel, David K. Caldwell, Melba C. Caldwell, James A. Cohen, John F. Eisenberg, Arthur W. Ewing, Michael L. Fine, Roger S. Fouts, Michael W. Fox, A. Gautier, J-P. · Gautier, Frank A.Geldard, Ilan Golani, Donald R. Oriffin, Jack P. Hailman, Bert Hölldobler, Carl D. Hopkins, A. Ross Kiester, Devra G. Kleiman, Hans Klingel, Peter H. Klopfer, Philip Lieberman, James E. Lloyd, Peter Marler, Martin H. Moynihan, Bori L. Olla, John R. Oppenheimer, Daniel Otte, Walter Poduschka, Cheryl H. Pruitt, Randall L. Rigby, Anthony Robertson, Arcadia F. Rodaniche, Jack Schneider, Thomas A Sebeok, Robert E. Silberglied, Kate Scow, Harry H. Shorey, W. John Smith, Richard Tenaza, Fritz R. Walther, Christen Wemmer, Peter Weygoldt, and Howard E. Winn.

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Ethics and Human–Animal Relations: Review Essay

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Published: 09 July 2021
Volume 34 , article number 23 , ( 2021 )

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This review essay considers five recent books that address the ethical dimensions of human–animal relations. The books are David Favre, Respecting Animals: A Balanced Approach to our Relationship with Pets, Food, and Wildlife; T. J. Kasperbauer, Subhuman: The Moral Psychology of Human Attitudes to Animals; Ben Minteer, The Fall of the Wild: Extinction, De-Extinction, and the Ethics of Conservation; Heather Swanson, Marianne Lien, and Gro Ween, eds., Domestication Gone Wild: Politics and Practices of Multispecies Relations; and Thom van Dooren, The Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared Worlds.

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Comment: Between Wild and Domesticated: Rethinking Categories and Boundaries in Response to Animal Agency

Robert Nozick on Nonhuman Animals: Rights, Value and the Meaning of Life

Taking Animal Perspectives into Account in Animal Ethics

Gary Francione, Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996).

Ben A. Minteer, The Landscape of Reform: Civic Pragmatism and Environmental Thought in America (MIT Press, 2006), 1.

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Editorial article, editorial: neurological insights into communication and synchrony between others: what animal and human group communication can tell us.

1 Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States
2 Department of Biology and the Center for Translational Social Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States

Editorial on the Research Topic Neurological insights into communication and synchrony between others: what animal and human group communication can tell us

Communication is the cornerstone of human interaction, serving as the conduit through which ideas are exchanged, relationships are formed, and societies thrive. While we often think of communication using overt means, such as physical gestures and speaking to others, the intricacies of communication extend far beyond explicit communication, encompassing non-verbal cues and physiological actions that shape our understanding and interpretation of social interactions ( Phutela, 2015 ; Symons et al., 2016 ). In fact, given the recent advances in artificial intelligence, interpersonal interaction can be extended to occur not between individuals, but instead between individuals and computer, further complicating the role of covert cues. Additionally, recent advancements in neurological research in both animal and human studies have shed light on the underlying mechanisms of non-verbal behavior, offering profound insights into the complexities of human group dynamics and interpersonal communication (e.g., Hirsch et al., 2018 ). Indeed, understanding human communication may require delving into the methods and findings of animal models, as animal models have offered significant insight into human psychopathology ( Heller, 2016 ). Thus, in this Research Topic, we explore the intersection of human, artificial intelligence, and animal research regarding non-verbal communication. We highlight five seminal articles that contribute to our understanding of human communication utilizing diverse tools to understand these phenomena such as metacognition, animal models, and dyadic human interactions.

One article, Neurophysiological and Emotional Influences on Team Communication and Metacognitive Cyber Situational Awareness During a Cyber Engineering Exercise , demonstrates advancements in neurological technology and how they contribute to the understanding of human communication ( Ask et al. ). Researchers examine the realm of cyber operations, where human-to-human communication plays a pivotal role in achieving shared situational awareness for effective decision-making. Utilizing the Orient, Locate, Bridge (OLB) model, researchers investigate the neural correlates of metacognitive cyber situational awareness among cyber cadets. Their findings underscore the influence of neurophysiological and emotional factors on team communication, revealing the importance of vagal tone in shaping metacognitive judgments and mood. This study provides essential insights into the cognitive processes underlying effective communication in cyber defense, and more broadly, to hierarchical communication. Together, these results pave the way for innovative approaches to recruitment, education, and training in this critical domain.

A possible explanation for the relationship between vagal tone and communicative success in cyber operations is emotional state. Functional Graph Contrastive Learning of Hyperscanning EEG Reveals Emotional Contagion Evoked by Stereotype-Based Stressors shows how humans can transmit emotion to one another without being consciously aware ( Huang et al. ). Authors show how emotional contagion pervades dyadic interactions, shaping the dynamics of collaborative tasks and influencing performance outcomes. This article also employed EEG-based hyperscanning to unravel the neural mechanisms underlying emotional contagion in the context of stereotype-based stressors. Through functional graph contrastive learning (fGCL), researchers suggest the impact of emotional contagion on participants' neural activity patterns, revealing its substantial role in modulating performance trajectories. This study contributes valuable insights into the neural underpinnings of emotional dynamics in dyads, enriching our understanding of social interactions in diverse contexts.

Attention to not only one's emotional state, but one's physiological state, can impact communication and interpersonal synchrony, as shown in Autonomic Synchrony Induced by Hyperscanning Interoception During Interpersonal Synchronization Tasks ( Balconi et al. ). This article demonstrates that social interactions are inherently dynamic, characterized by reciprocal influences on emotional states and physiological rhythms. This work investigates the role of autonomic synchrony in dyadic interpersonal synchronization tasks, exploring the impact of interoceptive focus on physiological coherence. By employing hyperscanning techniques, researchers reveal higher synchrony between paired participants in heart rate variability (HRV), skin conductance level (SCL), and heart rate (HR) during tasks involving focused attention on one's own breathing. These findings highlight the interplay between interoception and interpersonal synchrony, offering new avenues for studying psychophysiological coherence in real-time social interactions. This research also shows how human communication and synchrony can be seen not only though explicit communication and neurological activity, but also cardiovascular responses.

Other research takes a more cellular approach, looking at mirror neuron systems (MNS; Bonini, 2017 ), which are essential in understanding the intentions and movements of others. In, Effects of Avatar Shape and Motion on Mirror Neuron System Activity , researchers explored the role of the MNS in perceiving humanness in avatars, shedding light on how avatar characteristics impact neural activity ( Miyamoto et al. ). Application of electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis demonstrated activation of the MNS in response to human-like avatar shapes and motions, highlighting the importance of considering both visual and kinematic cues in avatar design and interpreting the intentions of others through physical movement. These findings offer valuable insights for enhancing inter-avatar communication and fostering a sense of social presence in virtual environments. Further, they demonstrate how understanding human communication in humans is an automatic process that can extend beyond assessing other humans, even down to the neuronal level.

Animal research provides further evidence for the influence of non-verbal communication. In Listening to Your Partner: Serotonin Increases Male Responsiveness to Female Vocal Signals in Mice , researchers explore how the context surrounding vocal communication can significantly influence the perception of vocal signals ( Hood and Hurley ). Specifically, authors examined serotonin's role in modulating behavioral responses to vocal signals in mice. By manipulating serotonin levels systemically and locally in the inferior colliculus (IC), researchers uncover the nuanced effects of serotonin on vocal behavior, highlighting the neurotransmitter's role in modulating male responsiveness to female vocal signals. These findings underscore the importance of considering neurotransmitter systems in understanding the mechanisms of context-dependent communication.

In conclusion, the articles presented in this Research Topic offer a multifaceted exploration of non-verbal communication from neurological perspectives, spanning human and animal research domains. From cyber defense decision-making to avatar design in virtual environments, interpersonal synchrony in social interactions, emotional contagion in dyadic tasks, and autonomic synchrony to serotonergic modulation of vocal perception, these studies illuminate the diverse facets of non-verbal behavior and its underpinnings. By integrating insights from human and animal models, we can deepen our understanding of communication dynamics and pave the way for future advancements in understanding an innate human behavior.

Author contributions

RA: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft. MW: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Bonini, L. (2017). The extended mirror neuron network: anatomy, origin, and functions. The Neuroscientist 23, 56–67. doi: 10.1177/1073858415626400

PubMed Abstract | Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar

Heller, A. S. (2016). Cortical-subcortical interactions in depression: from animal models to human psychopathology. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 10, 20. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2016.00020

Hirsch, J., Adam Noah, J., Zhang, X., Dravida, S., and Ono, Y. (2018). A cross-brain neural mechanism for human-to-human verbal communication. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 13, 907–920. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsy070

Phutela, D. (2015). The importance of non-verbal communication. IUP J. Soft Skills 9, 43.

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Symons, A. E., El-Deredy, W., Schwartze, M., and Kotz, S. A. (2016). The functional role of neural oscillations in non-verbal emotional communication. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 10, 239. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00239

Keywords: synchrony, human communication, EEG, vocal signaling, non-verbal communication

Citation: Amey RC and Warren MR (2024) Editorial: Neurological insights into communication and synchrony between others: what animal and human group communication can tell us. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 18:1415166. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1415166

Received: 10 April 2024; Accepted: 15 April 2024; Published: 02 May 2024.

Edited and reviewed by: Lutz Jäncke , University of Zurich, Switzerland

Copyright © 2024 Amey and Warren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Rachel C. Amey, ramey.ameyc@gmail.com

This article is part of the Research Topic

Neurological Insights into Communication and Synchrony between others: What Animal and Human Group Communication can tell us.

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Language and Communication in Animals

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