Environment, methodology, and the object choice task in apes
Evidence for declarative comprehension and implications for the evolution of language
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12938801 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Heidi Lyn (0000-0002-9746-3030, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 333-349 |
| Publication date | 2010-10-20 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Evolutionary Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1789-2082 • E-ISSN: 2060-5587 |
| Publisher | Akadémiai Kiadó (PUBLISHER • HU) |
| DOI | 10.1556/jep.8.2010.4.3 |
| OpenAlex | W2019142832 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 32 |
The ability to comprehend purely informative (declarative) communications has been put forward by several researchers as a possible biological distinction between humans and our nearest evolutionary relatives, the great apes. Most studies that purport to show that great apes cannot comprehend declaratives utilize the object choice task as a basis of measurement and have relatively few subjects. Here we report on a large-scale study of chimpanzees and bonobos as well as a meta-analysis of earlier studies. The data from this large pool of subjects suggest that environmental and methodological differences greatly affect the ability of great apes on the object choice task. Therefore, it is unlikely that an adaptation for declarative comprehension drove the evolution of human language
Adaptation (eye · Affect (linguistics · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Comprehension · Object (grammar · Task (project management · Child and Animal Learning Development · Communication · Computer Science · Language and cultural evolution · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
Thought and language.
Cooperation and human cognition
Language input and child syntax
Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social Cognition
The Thinking ApeEvolutionary Origins of Intelligence
The development of language skills in PAN - II. Production
The development of language skills in bonobo and chimpanzee-I. Comprehension
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2014 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |