La Salle University La Salle University Digital Commons Explorer Café Explorer Connection 9-26-2018 The Origin and Evolution of Human Communication: If We Were Walking the Walk, Were We Walking the Talk? James Mancinelli La Salle University, mancinelli@lasalle.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/explorercafe Recommended Citation Mancinelli, James, "The Origin and Evolution of Human Communication: If We Were Walking the Walk, Were We Walking the Talk?" (2018). Explorer Café. 73. https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/explorercafe/73 This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by the Explorer Connection at La Salle University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Explorer Café by an authorized administrator of La Salle University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact careyc@lasalle.edu.
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION If we were walking the walk, were we talking the talk?
If we want to understand human communication, therefore, we cannot begin with language. --(Tomasello, p.59, 2008)
Meet the Family
John Edward Gray (1825)
Milestone Epoch Approximate Time Hominin/Hominid Frame Divergence from Late Miocene 9-12mya Hominid great apes Divergence from Late Miocene 6-8mya Hominid chimpanzees Bipedalism Pliocene; Pleistocene 4mya; 1.89mya Hominin (Ardipithecus ramidus); hominin (H. Erectus) Using Fire Pleistocene 1.42mya (East Africa) Hominin (H. erectus) Controlling Fire Pleistocene 0.2-1.7mya (Swartkrans, S. Africa) Tool construction and use First Evidence of Symbols Pleistocene Pleistocene (Paleolithic period) 3.3mya (Lake Turkana, Kenya) Blombos Cave (S. Africa); 75k-100kya Hominin (H. erectus) Hominin: Australopithecines; Australopithecus afarensis ( Lucy species) is a candidate Hominin: H. sapiens Cave Paintings/Sculpture Pleistocene (Paleolithic period) 40k 35K: France; Spain; Germany Hominin: H. sapiens Music (?) Pleistocene (Paleolithic period) Flute: Hohle Fels cave; Swabia, Germany Hominin: H. sapiens
BLOMBOS CAVE ARTIFACT DATED TO 73,000
BLOMBOS CAVE ARTIFACT DATED TO 75-100K
AURIGNACIAN FLUTE FROM HOHLE FELS CAVE (40K 35K)
HOHLE FELS FIGURINES FROM AURIGNACIAN PERIOD 36,000YA
WHICH CAME FIRST, THE POINT, THE MIME, OR THE GRUNT?
A LONG, LONG, TIME AGO Attention getters Referential pointing Pantomiming (iconic gestures)
REFERENTIAL AND INTENTIONAL GESTURE IN CHIMPANZEES Referential pointing and individual intentionality: arm raise = acquire object https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n6s6lcbasm Referential pointing (referential) and pantomime (iconic gesturing)in Bonobos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1wxpt_yuay
WHAT WERE THE FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF HUMAN COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATION?
SHARED INTENTIONALITY Joint intention Joint attention Establishing a common ground (shared understanding of the situation at hand)
I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT I KNOW
AN ESSENTIAL BUILDING BLOCK Recursive mind-reading
HUMAN COOPERATION MODEL Social Intention Communicative Intention Referential intention
EVOLVED COMMUNICATIVE MOTIVES BASED ON SHARED INTENTIONALITY Requesting Informing Sharing
TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK.
WHO SAID WHAT TO WHO, WHEN AND HOW? Brain size Vocal tract (SVT) Anatomical necessities: skull geometry(?) Respiratory function Central neural mechanisms Social driver Purpose
GEOMETRIC RELATIONSHIPS HTTPS://WWW.GOOGLE.COM/SEARCH?Q=COMPARISON+OF+CHIMP+AND+HUMAN+VOCAL+TRACTS&RLZ=1C1CHBF_ENUS72 7US727&SOURCE=LNMS&TBM=ISCH&SA=X&VED=0AHUKEWIF5J7H5RJDAHVEILAKHC2AATEQ_AUICIGB&BIW=1920&BIH=943#IM GRC=AS7_YD0DMWUXSM:
THE BIG QUESTIONS Who? When? How? Why?
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BATTING FIRST FOR THE HOMININS IS..
H. erectus H. sapiens H. heidelbergensis Australopithecine H. Neanderthalensis H. floriensis
SELECTED REFERENCES Fitch, W. T. (2018). The biology and evolution of speech: a comparative analysis. Annual Review of Linguistics, 4, 255-279. Lieberman, P. (2012). Vocal tract anatomy and the neural bases of talking. Journal of Phonetics, 40, 608-622. Scott-Phillips, T. C. (2015). Non-human primate communication, pragmatics, and the origins of language. Current Anthropology, 56(1), 56-80. Searle, J. (2010). Making the Social World: the Structure of Human Civilization. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Tomasello, M. (2008). Origins of Human Communication. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press