Psychology 3228 Lecture 6: Language

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 3228
• Professor: Scott Mac Dougall- Shackleton

Document Summary

Communication is widespread: many species have complex communication with. Syntax not just random order of sounds. Communicate specific location and type of food sources. Have specific alarm calls that refer to types of predators. Other species can be taught aspects of language: washoe. Common chimp taught sign language by the gardners. Learned many signs and invented new compound words e. g. water-bird for swan or cold-rock for ice. Herb terrace gave intensive training to chimp to counter nativist claims of language. Nim learned hundreds of signs, but communication was symbolic, lacked grammar or rules: most utterance only a few words. Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you . Kanzi learned to use symbolic keyboard while his mother was being trained. Koko (gorilla): claimed to know thousands of signs, use grammar and adjectives etc. Can learn to respond to a variety of symbols and sounds.