Transcript On the Origin of Language

The major transitions
(JMS & ES, 1995)
*
*
*
*
* These transitions are regarded to be ‘difficult’
Three interwoven processes
• Note the different time-scales involved
• Cultural transmission: language transmits itself as
well as other things
• A novel inheritance system
Challenges: a simple experiment
(Hauser & Fitch)
• Habituation experiments
• Finite state grammar
(AB)n is recognizable by
tamarins
• Phrase structure grammar
AnBn is NOT.
• Human students
recognize both
BUT: Recursive syntactic pattern
learning in birds!
• European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) accurately
recognize recursive syntactic patterns
• They are able to exlude agrammatical forms
• Centre-embedding is not uniquely human
Patterns are made up of naturally
occurring vocal patterns
• Learning to classify by operant conditioning
• This is NOT production!
(1) selective advantage (2) honesty (3) grounded in reality
(4) power of generalisations (5) cognitive abilities (6) uniqueness
Theories/Questions
1
2
3
4
5
6
Language as a mental tool (Jerison, 1991; Burling, 1993)
+
+
-
+
-
-
Grooming hypothesis (Dunbar, 1998)
-
+
-
-
-
-
Gossip (Power, 1998)
+
+
+
+
-
+
-
+
+
-
+
-
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
-
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
Tool making (Greenfield, 1991)
Mating contract (Deacon, 1997)
Sexual selection (Miller, 2000)
Status for information (Dessalles, 2000)
Song hypothesis (Vaneechoutte & Skoyles, 1998)
Group bonding/ ritual (Knight, 1998)
Gestural theory (Hewes, 1973)
Hunting theories (Washburn & Lanchester, 1968)
The evolutionary approach
genes
selection
development
learning
behaviour
environment
Impact of evolution on the developmental
genetics of the brain!
Software architecture
519
classes
99267
lines of
C++ code
ECAgents: project founded by the Future and Emerging Technologies program
(IST-FET) of the European Community under EU R&D contract IST1940.
Population dynamics and agent lifecycle
ECAgents: project founded by the Future and Emerging Technologies program
(IST-FET) of the European Community under EU R&D contract IST1940.
Ontogenesis of a neuronal network
ECAgents: project founded by the Future and Emerging Technologies program
(IST-FET) of the European Community under EU R&D contract IST1940.
A Coordination Game
Speaker
Listener
Population
Signal
-1/1
Environment
Decision
Decision
ECAgents: project founded by the Future and Emerging Technologies program
(IST-FET) of the European Community under EU R&D contract IST1940.
Different types of game
Environment -1
Coodination game (Coop)
 Division of Labour (Div)
 Prisoners’ dilemma (PD)
 Hawk- Dove game (SD)
Coop (-1)
Coop (1)
Div
Div
PD (-1)
PD (1)
SD (-1)
SD (1)
PD (-1)
Coop (-1)
PD (-1)
CoopRev (1)
SD (-1)
Coop (-1)
SD (-1)
CoopRev (1)

Coodination game
Division of Labour
D(1)
D(-1)
D(1)
D(-1)
D(1)
5
1
D(1)
0
5
D(-1)
0
0
D(-1)
5
0
Environment 1
Prisoners’ dilemma Hawk - Dove game
D(1)
D(-1)
D(1)
1
5
D(-1)
0
3
D(1)
D(-1)
D(1)
-1
5
D(-1)
0
3