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SUMMARY:: Scratching Beneath the Surface of Pan Communication: Intentions\
 , Representations and Joint Attention - Professor Katie Slocombe\, Departm
 ent of Psychology\, University of York\, UK
DTSTART:20250314T120000Z
DTEND:20250314T133000Z
UID:TALK225784@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sara Seddon
DESCRIPTION:Despite important similarities having been found between human
  and animal communication systems\, surprisingly little research effort ha
 s focussed on whether the cognitive mechanisms underpinning these behaviou
 rs are also similar. If comparative research is going to help elucidate th
 e evolutionary origins of human language we need to consider whether seemi
 ngly homologous traits are underpinned by similar mechanisms. In terms of 
 vocal production\, it is highly debated whether signal production in non-h
 uman primates is the result of reflexive processes\, or under intentional 
 control. I will present data from a snake presentation experiment with wil
 d chimpanzees that shows that two types of alarm calls meet several behavi
 oural markers for intentional production. In terms of reception of vocal s
 ignals\, there is some evidence that conspecific alarm calls evoke mental 
 representations in listeners\, however the nature of any representations (
 object or affect based) remains difficult to determine. I will present rec
 ent work with Kanzi\, the language competent bonobo\, that shows he reliab
 ly matched bonobo alarm calls to lexigrams (arbitrary symbols) denoting bo
 th ‘snake’ as an object-based representation and ‘scare’ as an aff
 ect-based representation\, indicating that these conspecific calls evoke b
 oth object-based and affect-based representations in this bonobo. Finally\
 , I will ask whether joint attention\, which is so important for language 
 acquisition and communication in humans is unique to our species. I will p
 resent data from stimulus presentation experiments with human infants\, wi
 ld chimpanzees and wild crested macaques to show that joint attention does
  occur in our closest living relatives\, albeit at a much lower rate than 
 in humans.
LOCATION:Ground Floor Lecture Theatre\, Department of  Psychology
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