Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
16 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
|
What are characteristics of language?
|
arbitrary, symbolic, and displaced in time and distance
|
|
|
|
How did language evolve?
|
Through evidence from:
-natural communication systems -laboratory studies of artificial language -studies of cognitive abilities that may underpin language -studies of neural functioning -genetic studies |
|
|
|
Why was Alex the bird special?
|
Had arbitrary labels for objects and categories
|
|
|
|
Who was Kanzi?
|
Amazing monkey in laboratory studies of linguistic ability -- made lexigrams, able to respond to spoken English,
|
|
|
|
What are some speculations as to why language evolved in humans?
|
-ability to communicate about things removed in time and distance (hunting)
-ability to teach - dissemination of knowledge and tradition -sexual selection -relationship between cognitive features of language and manual dexterity (tool making) |
|
|
|
What is learning?
|
Specific change or modification of behavior that occurs as a result of experience with an external event or series of events in an individual's lifetime
|
|
|
|
What are the benefits of learning?
|
Allows animal to adjust to local environment
-allows animal to adapt to changed conditions -May allow animal to learn from others |
|
|
|
What are the costs of learning?
|
-Less than optimal behavior during acquisition
-Delayed reproduction while dependent on parents |
|
|
|
What are the different categories of learning that are recognized (due to the fact that outward expression of learning varies)?
|
-Habituation
-Sensitization -Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning -Operant (instrumental) conditioning -Cultural/observational learning -Insight learning |
|
|
|
What is an example of classical (Pavlovian) conditioning?
|
Rat is taught to pair blue stick (CS) with cat odor (US)...then when just the blue stick is presented rat will hide (CR)
|
|
|
|
What did the study by Garcia & colleagues on taste aversion in rats show? What is this an example of?
|
Rats exhibit selective learning due to stimulus relevance (acquire aversion to sweetness--nausea and learns defense for "click"--pain, but not switched)
|
How natural selection shapes learning (because this in general this is true of omnivorous animals but not specialists)
|
|
|
What is imitation learning? (most difficult form of social learning)
|
-Involves a novel response through observation of another individual's behavior
-Involves a "goal-directed" psychological mechanism -Often difficult to distinguish from social facilitation |
|
|
|
What are examples of social learning/"cultural" transmission in Japanese monkeys?
|
-potato washing
-wheat "placer mining' -stone play |
|
|
|
What are cultural variants?
|
Behavioral patterns that are absent WITHOUT ECOLOGICAL EXPLANATION in at least one community but are habitual or usual in at least one other
|
ex. 65 different behavior patterns seen at some sites and not at others, independent of environmental constraints
-at least 24 identified cultural variants in Orangutans |
|
|
What is special about meerkats?
|
They may teach...they adjust the level of difficulty of prey to age and ability of young!
|
|
|
|
According to Herman, what can't primates do?
|
May lack "cultural intelligence" - the specialized social-cognitive skills for living and exchanging knowledge in cultural groups: communicating with others, learning from others, and 'reading the mind' of others in especially complex ways
|
|
