Animal language & communication

• Language is a key communication system, composed of structured sequences of sounds, syntax, or symbols that convey meaning/ inferences.
• Language is a primary method of human interaction, allowing individuals to articulate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas by recursion (tense)
• Who supports the idea of human uniqueness in language, suggesting a divide between mind (language) and body (physical expression)?

  Descarte's theory of Dualism
• Who suggests that language might not be unique to humans, but a product of our genealogical connection to other species?

  Darwin's theory of Continuity of Descent & Mechanism of Natural Selection
• Our genealogical lineage may give rise to similar language systems due to species' closeness (e.g., chimps and human emotion) is an example of descent by modification
• Who stated Language is a behaviour that evolves from learning mechanisms of reinforcement?


  Skinner
• Skinner implies that language is not unique to humans, but can be learned and developed through reinforcement.
• Who suggested human uniqueness in language, is an innate hardwired ability to understand and apply.?

  Chomsky
• Ferdinand De Sassure suggested there are three kinds of communication within all language, what are they?

  • Index communication
  • Icon communication
  • Sign communication
• Signifier is the form or the representation of the information. It could be a word, a sound, an image, or a gesture that carries a specific meaning.
• Signified is the actual meaning or the concept that the signifier represents or conveys
• The word Elephant is the signifier, and the concept of four legged Africian animal with a trunk and massive ears is the signified
• The sign is directly connected to what it represents, like a thermometer representing temperature. A higher reading on the thermometer indicates a higher temperature is an example of?


  Index communication
• The sign looks like what it represents, like a drawing of a tree representing an actual tree is an example of?


  Icon communication
• The sign and what it represents have a relationship based on agreement or convention, like the word "cat" representing the animal is an example of?


  Sign communication