PSYCO105 Lecture 2: PSYCO 105 Chapter 2
7 Jul 2016
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Communication: most social animals are capable of communicating with other members of their species, and even across species. However, these forms of communication are typically not considered languages. Language: a communication system is typically considered a language if it has three defining properties: A communication system is considered general purpose if it can be used to convey information about any arbitrary topic, able to convey our thoughts and feelings. Honeybee waggle dance to communicate with other bees to give information on how far or close the nectar is, faster (the further), slower (the closer). Conveys information but not general purpose. (only distance and direction of nectar) Human languages allow their speaker to convey any sort of meaning. It is commonly believed that the reason a specific word refers to a specific meaning is, ultimately, arbitrary. Any other word could have done the job equally well: symbol that is used to convey a meaning.
