BIOL 375 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Song Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, Brown Thrasher
11 Aug 2016
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Communication: definition, transfer of information from a signaler to a receiver. Just need to be transferred: not always easy to know when communication is taking place. Not always easy to know when communication is taking place. Clever hans apparently able to do simple mathematics. Could answer questions like square root of 9, addition/subtraction. Using subtle and unintentional cues from testers to know when to stop tapping hoof. Was indeed very clever, but doesn"t know math: communication between animals and humans. Rarity as rule: should be pretty rare. Should only see in domesticated animals: only expect it in organisms that evolved specifically to interact with us. Also, as we"ll see, hard to know what"s going on: evolution of communication, origins in reading others" intentions, postures, hormone profiles, behavior evolved for other functions, transition to ritualization, from these origins evolved to signal. In diff env, diff signals might transmit better. Auditory signals in water much faster than through air.
