Principal Investigator:
Jared P. Taglialatela, PhD
Research Associate
Division of Psychobiology
Yerkes National Primate Research Center
Emory University

Co-Investigator:
Laure A. Taglialatela MA Phd
Project Coordinator, CHOICE
Behavioral Sciences and Health Education
Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University

CONVERSATIONAL VOCAL EXCHANGES AMONG BONOBOS, PAN PANISCUS

OVERVIEW

Communicative vocal exchanges between familiar individuals in direct contact with one another are a fundamental component of human spoken language. These conversations undoubtedly played a significant role in the evolution of human speech, and are no less important in the daily life of individuals today. Indeed, many primatologists have recognized the importance of studying vocal exchanges among conspecifics in affiliative contexts and have noted similarities to human conversation. Therefore, conversations present a fruitful area of study for those interested in the evolution of human spoken language. To this end, the following project is proposed in order to determine if, and to what extent the vocal behavior of bonobos engaged in close-range vocal exchanges exhibits characteristics that are elemental to human conversation. Inter-as well as Intra-species interactions will be recorded and analyzed for evidence of turn-taking, differential vocal responding based on caller identity, and differential vocal responding based on call structure. Computer-based testing procedures will be used to determine if the subjects are able to identify conspecific and human callers based on their vocalizations, and to determine the perceptual salience of vocalizations and hypothesized structural differences. Data from computer-based tests will be compared with those obtained during observational studies.

Performance Sites:
» Great Ape Trust of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
» Culture Prefigures Cognition in Pan/Homo Bonobos
» Cultural Apprenticeship: Social Processes In The Ontogeny of Object Use in Pan paniscus
» Behavioral and Neuroanotomical Asymmetries In Bonobos, Pan paniscus
» Development of Language, Gesture and Play In Bonobos
» Comparative Analysis of Orangutan and Bonobo Numerical Competence
» Basic Memory Processes In Bonobos
» Conversational Vocal Exchanges Among Bonobos
» Multimodal Analysis of Communicative Behavior In Bonobos
» Investigations of Skill Acquisition and Site Formation Processes with Groups of Stone-tool Making Apes
» Music Perception, Learning, and Production In Apes
» Learning and Cognition Same Different Conceptualization and Cross Modal Matching