scholarly journals Iconicity can ground the creation of vocal symbols

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (8) ◽  
pp. 150152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Perlman ◽  
Rick Dale ◽  
Gary Lupyan
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Gestural Communication ◽  
Symbol System ◽  
Laboratory Setting ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
The Creation

Studies of gestural communication systems find that they originate from spontaneously created iconic gestures. Yet, we know little about how people create vocal communication systems, and many have suggested that vocalizations do not afford iconicity beyond trivial instances of onomatopoeia. It is unknown whether people can generate vocal communication systems through a process of iconic creation similar to gestural systems. Here, we examine the creation and development of a rudimentary vocal symbol system in a laboratory setting. Pairs of participants generated novel vocalizations for 18 different meanings in an iterative ‘vocal’ charades communication game. The communicators quickly converged on stable vocalizations, and naive listeners could correctly infer their meanings in subsequent playback experiments. People's ability to guess the meanings of these novel vocalizations was predicted by how close the vocalization was to an iconic ‘meaning template’ we derived from the production data. These results strongly suggest that the meaningfulness of these vocalizations derived from iconicity. Our findings illuminate a mechanism by which iconicity can ground the creation of vocal symbols, analogous to the function of iconicity in gestural communication systems.

scholarly journals Vocal plasticity in a reptile

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1855) ◽  
pp. 20170451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Brumm ◽  
Sue Anne Zollinger
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Vocal Plasticity ◽  
Lombard Effect ◽  
Gekko Gecko ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Signalling Systems

Sophisticated vocal communication systems of birds and mammals, including human speech, are characterized by a high degree of plasticity in which signals are individually adjusted in response to changes in the environment. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first evidence for vocal plasticity in a reptile. Like birds and mammals, tokay geckos ( Gekko gecko ) increased the duration of brief call notes in the presence of broadcast noise compared to quiet conditions, a behaviour that facilitates signal detection by receivers. By contrast, they did not adjust the amplitudes of their call syllables in noise (the Lombard effect), which is in line with the hypothesis that the Lombard effect has evolved independently in birds and mammals. However, the geckos used a different strategy to increase signal-to-noise ratios: instead of increasing the amplitude of a given call type when exposed to noise, the subjects produced more high-amplitude syllable types from their repertoire. Our findings demonstrate that reptile vocalizations are much more flexible than previously thought, including elaborate vocal plasticity that is also important for the complex signalling systems of birds and mammals. We suggest that signal detection constraints are one of the major forces driving the evolution of animal communication systems across different taxa.

scholarly journals Discrimination of natural acoustic variation in vocal signals

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam R. Fishbein ◽  
Nora H. Prior ◽  
Jane A. Brown ◽  
Gregory F. Ball ◽  
Robert J. Dooling
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Acoustic Communication ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Acoustic Variation ◽  
Zebra Finch Song ◽  
Human Listener

AbstractStudies of acoustic communication often focus on the categories and units of vocalizations, but subtle variation also occurs in how these signals are uttered. In human speech, it is not only phonemes and words that carry information but also the timbre, intonation, and stress of how speech sounds are delivered (often referred to as “paralinguistic content”). In non-human animals, variation across utterances of vocal signals also carries behaviorally relevant information across taxa. However, the discriminability of these cues has been rarely tested in a psychophysical paradigm. Here, we focus on acoustic communication in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), a songbird species in which the male produces a single stereotyped motif repeatedly in song bouts. These motif renditions, like the song repetitions of many birds, sound very similar to the casual human listener. In this study, we show that zebra finches can easily discriminate between the renditions, even at the level of single song syllables, much as humans can discriminate renditions of speech sounds. These results support the notion that sensitivity to fine acoustic details may be a primary channel of information in zebra finch song, as well as a shared, foundational property of vocal communication systems across species.

How to create a human communication system

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey J. Lister ◽  
Nicolas Fay
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Communication System ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sign Systems ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Interactive Feedback ◽  
Single Modality

Following a synthesis of naturalistic and experimental studies of language creation, we propose a theoretical model that describes the process through which human communication systems might arise and evolve. Three key processes are proposed that give rise to effective, efficient and shared human communication systems: (1) motivated signs that directly resemble their meaning facilitate cognitive alignment, improving communication success; (2) behavioral alignment onto an inventory of shared sign-to-meaning mappings bolsters cognitive alignment between interacting partners; (3) sign refinement, through interactive feedback, enhances the efficiency of the evolving communication system. By integrating the findings across a range of diverse studies, we propose a theoretical model of the process through which the earliest human communication systems might have arisen and evolved. Importantly, because our model is not bound to a single modality it can describe the creation of shared sign systems across a range of contexts, informing theories of language creation and evolution.

Responses To Conspecific Advertisement Calls in the Green Frog (Rana Clamitans) and Their Role in Male-Male Communication

Behaviour ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 283-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Perrill ◽  
Mark A. Bee
Keyword(s):  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
Advertisement Call ◽  
Rana Clamitans ◽  
Green Frog ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
The Third ◽  
Altered Response

AbstractWe investigated vocal communication between males in a central Indiana population of the green frog, Rana clamitans. Three playback experiments were conducted. In the first test, we broadcasted a single-note and a multiple-note conspecific advertisement call and a control call (Acris crepitans) to calling males. In response to the conspecific stimuli, males increased the number of calls made per minute, increased note duration, lowered the dominant frequency in the call, and often approached the speaker platform. In a second playback test, designed to examine changes in the sound pressure levels of response calls, we broadcasted a conspecific single-note advertisement call and the control call to calling males. Males in this test lowered the intensity of their responses to the conspecific stimulus. We take these altered response calls to be encounter calls used in the vocal defense of a territory during agonistic male-male interactions. We examine the function of these calls and discuss their possible role in communication between males. In the third test, we broadcasted a second type of conspecific multiple-note call and the control call. In their responses, males increased the number of the second multiple-note calls. The multiple-note stimulus used in this test failed to elicit the agonistic responses of the first two conspecific calls. The role of this second type of multiple-note call in male-male communication remains unclear.

scholarly journals Nonhuman and Nonhuman-Human Communication: Some Issues and Questions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene M. Pepperberg
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Simple Object ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Psittacus Erithacus ◽  
Simple Matter ◽  
Number Of Species

Deciphering nonhuman communication – particularly nonhuman vocal communication – has been a longstanding human quest. We are, for example, fascinated by the songs of birds and whales, the grunts of apes, the barks of dogs, and the croaks of frogs; we wonder about their potential meaning and their relationship to human language. Do these utterances express little more than emotional states, or do they convey actual bits and bytes of concrete information? Humans’ numerous attempts to decipher nonhuman systems have, however, progressed slowly. We still wonder why only a small number of species are capable of vocal learning, a trait that, because it allows for innovation and adaptation, would seem to be a prerequisite for most language-like abilities. Humans have also attempted to teach nonhumans elements of our system, using both vocal and nonvocal systems. The rationale for such training is that the extent of success in instilling symbolic reference provides some evidence for, at the very least, the cognitive underpinnings of parallels between human and nonhuman communication systems. However, separating acquisition of reference from simple object-label association is not a simple matter, as reference begins with such associations, and the point at which true reference emerges is not always obvious. I begin by discussing these points and questions, predominantly from the viewpoint of someone studying avian abilities. I end by examining the question posed by Premack: do nonhumans that have achieved some level of symbolic reference then process information differently from those that have not? I suggest the answer is likely “yes,” giving examples from my research on Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus).

scholarly journals Airborne vocal communication in adult neotropical otters (Lontra longicaudis)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251974
Author(s):  
Sabrina Bettoni ◽  
Angela Stoeger ◽  
Camilo Rodriguez ◽  
W. Tecumseh Fitch
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Fundamental Frequencies ◽  
Phylogenetic Inertia ◽  
The Social ◽  
Evolution Of Communication ◽  
First Time ◽  
Aquatic Mammals ◽  
Lontra Longicaudis

Most aquatic mammals have complex social and communication systems. Interestingly, little is known about otters’ vocal communication compared to other aquatic mammals. Here, for the first time, we acoustically describe vocalizations of the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), a solitary and endangered New World otter species. We recorded vocalizations and behavioral contexts from six captive neotropical otters at Projeto Lontra, Santa Catarina Island, Brazil. Analysis of acoustic parameters were used to classify the vocalizations according to structure and context. We describe six call types with highly tonal as well as chaotic vocalizations with fundamental frequencies ranging from 90 to 2500 Hz. Additionally, we identified sex differences in the usage of calls. Results suggest that the neotropical river otter has a rich vocal repertoire, similar in complexity to other solitary otter species, but less complex than that of the social giant otter. Despite differences in sociality, phylogeny and ecology, L. longicaudis seems to possess vocalizations homologous to those found in other otters (e.g. hah and chirp), suggesting phylogenetic inertia in otter communicative repertoire. Otters thus offer an interesting but neglected group to explore the evolution of communication systems.

scholarly journals Info-Communication Systems Based on E-mail and SMS Technologies

2018 ◽  
pp. 92-96
Author(s):  
Andranik Mkhitaryan
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Networks ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
The Creation ◽  
E Mail

The features of the widespread systems for the exchange of messages in computer and cellular networks, the prerequisites for the creation of combined messaging systems using IP and GSM technologies are considered. The peculiarities of the construction of hybrid e-mail / SMS info-communication systems are considered.

Topic-open-endedness

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 258-271
Author(s):  
Irit Meir
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Infinite Number ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Finite Set ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Semantic Domains

Abstract Humans can use language to refer to and describe endless varieties of situations, thoughts, ideas, and topics, actual or hypothetical. This capacity, which distinguishes human language from communication systems of other animals, is referred to here as topic-open-endedness. A key factor in explaining topic-open-endedness early in the life of a new sign language is the nature of the linguistic symbols, the words, and the human ability to extend their meanings – e.g., through metonymy and metaphor – to novel semantic domains, applying a finite lexicon to infinite situations and topics. Other early language properties such as predication and negation facilitate creativity and flexibility from the beginning. The property of recursion accounts for the creation of an infinite number of sentences from a finite set of words and rules. But it cannot account for the open-endedness of the contents of those sentences. Therefore, the importance attributed to recursion as the sole mechanism that is uniquely human is overrated.

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