BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Columba Systems Ltd//NONSGML CPNG/SpringViewer/ICal Output/3.3-
 M3//EN
VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20150508T091503Z
DTSTART:20150511T110000Z
DTEND:20150511T120000Z
SUMMARY:Chimpanzee communication: links to human language
UID:{http://www.columbasystems.com/customers/uom/gpp/eventid/}q12-i9fdjus
 m-4iyt1e
DESCRIPTION:Computational and Evolutionary Biology Seminar Series 2015\n\
 nOne of the key elements of human language is reference\, with referenti
 al words allowing us to\ncommunicate about a multitude of objects and ev
 ents. The evolutionary origins of this aspect of\nlanguage have been lon
 g debated. Non-human primate alarm calls and food calls have been\nident
 ified as ‘functionally referential’\, in that acoustically distinct call
 s are given to specific events\nand listeners respond as if they underst
 and the referent of the call. Although on the surface these\nprimate cal
 ls seem analogous to human referential words\, it is unclear if the psyc
 hological\nmechanisms underpinning the production of the calls is simila
 r. I will present a series of studies\ninvestigating chimpanzee food cal
 ls\, which first establish that they function referentially\, before\nex
 amining two aspects of flexibility in the production of these calls. Tog
 ether these studies show\nthat the psychological mechanisms underlying t
 he production of functionally referential calls in one\nof our closest r
 elatives may be more flexible and have more similarities to those involv
 ed in\nlanguage production than previously thought.\nPlease
STATUS:TENTATIVE
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
LOCATION:Michael Smith Lecture Theatre\, Michael Smith Building\, Manches
 ter
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