BCS 110 Lecture 18: Language and Speech 4.3.18
9 Apr 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Monkeys have different calls for different predators (hawk/snake), but they are not context dependent (e. g. , hawk in air vs. on ground). Did in evolve uniquely in humans, or did it evolve from precursors already present in other species: efforts to teach chimpanzees to speak have been unsuccessful (they lack fine motor control of their vocal cords). However, they have a highly nuanced vocabulary of hand gestures and can communicate by pressing keys on a computer: parrots can be learn the meaning of many words and answer questions. Alex - what is? : evolution of language, most theories of how we evolved the ability to learn language fall into two categories: Specialized brain modules: overall intelligence theory - normal intelligence = normal language. Two problems with this theory: normal intelligence, but genetic condition impairs language, williams syndrome - cognitive impairment but good language, specialized brain module theory - built in mechanisms for language acquisition.
