Practice question · True or false
Ape language studies are generally agreed to have demonstrated recursive, hierarchical syntax.
Hints
- Consider what is disputed and what is not.
- The vocabularies are not in dispute; the syntax is.
Show the answer
False
Why
False. Vocabulary acquisition and intentional use are widely accepted; recursive hierarchical syntax is not demonstrated to general satisfaction. Saying so is not a dismissal of the animals, it is a statement about which claim the evidence currently supports.
Practise Animal Communication
The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Languages I is free to start.
More questions on Animal Communication
- A food source is placed directly above a beehive, reachable only by flying straight up. What happened in von…
- The honeybee waggle dance shows displacement, since it refers to a place the dancer is not at.
- Which are true of vervet alarm calls as established by the playback experiments?
- Sort each observation by whether it supports a RICH interpretation of ape language studies or a SCEPTICAL one.
- How many acoustically distinct alarm calls did the vervet studies establish?
- Complete the comparison of systems.
- A communication system can show displacement without possessing productivity. What explains this divergence…