Can animals understand human language? : Rico the Dog case study

Posted by Download On Kamis, 29 Maret 2012 0 komentar
By Eugene Lindenstrom


Much like human beings, all species have a way of communicating with each other that only they fully understand. This could be referred to as their own language; however, unlike humans who use words and gestures to communicate, other species often use non-verbal forms of communication, or will use sounds and what we may refer to as calls or songs to communicate with their peers.

The Honey Bee species are well known for their 'Bee Dance', a pattern of movement significant to the recruitment of worker bees from the hive to aid in the collection of pollen from a particularly rewarding plantation area. It is thought that if food is nearby a short dance will be performed, and if food is further away a longer version of said dance will be performed, indicating to the worker bees where to find the pollen. It is also thought that the worker bees know the direction in which to go in relation to the position of the sun during the bee's dance.

Another experiment was then conducted, in which a new object with which Rico had never come into contact with before, or ever heard the word for, was placed in a room along with 7 of his familiar toys. But he couldn't be outwitted, and fetched the new object when asked a total of 7 out of 10 times. "This tells us he can do simple logic," said one of the researchers involved in the experiments.

The report that followed further testing on Rico's capabilities resulted in another expert in the field of canine behaviour saying that although it had previously been argued by some experts and scholars that the perceptual and cognitive processes that are vital to the understanding of language and meaning is unique to the human brain and intelligence level, this study of Rico and his abilities shows that other animals can possess those cognitive and perceptual abilities.

Bird 'songs' are another well renowned form of animal communication, and it is one of the most pleasing to human ears as it seems to replicate harmonies and notes found in music. Birds are also known to 'call' to each other. The difference between a call and a song is thought to be that songs are longer and more complex, and are used to attract females to males. It is thought that the better the song, the fitter the male. Calls however are sharper and less melodic, more to the point, and are thought to be warnings of predators in the area.




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