The language void: the need for multimodality in primate communication research
Theories of language evolution often draw heavily on comparative evidence of the communicative abilities of extant nonhuman primates (primates). Many theories have argued exclusively for a unimodal origin of language, usually gestural or vocal. Theories are often strengthened by research on primates that indicates the absence of certain linguistic precursors in the opposing communicative modality. […]
Onset and Early Use of Gestural Communication in Nonhuman Great Apes
The early gesturing of six bonobos, eight chimpanzees, three gorillas, and eight orangutans was systematically documented using focal animal sampling. Apes’ were observed during their first 20 months of life in an effort to investigate: (i) the onset of gesturing; (ii) the order in which signals of different sensory modalities appear; (iii) the extent to […]
Considering the role of social dynamics and positional behavior in gestural communication research
While the hominin fossil record cannot inform us on either the presence or extent of social and cognitive abilities that may have paved the way for the emergence of language, studying non-vocal communication among our closest living relatives, the African apes, may provide valuable information about how language originated. Although much has been learned from […]
Pseudoreplication: a widespread problem in primate communication research
Pseudoreplication (the pooling fallacy) is a widely acknowledged statistical error in the behavioural sciences. Taking a large number of data points from a small number of animals creates a false impression of a better representation of the population. Studies of communication may be particularly prone to artificially inflating the data set in this way, as […]