Comparative Studies of Primate Vocal Communication

在这十年里，研究揭示了人类语言的某些方面与生活在社会群体中的猴子的声音交流之间基本但有趣的相似之处。灵长类动物对叫声和语言的分类感知、叫声和语言的某些功能，甚至是控制和产生叫声和猴子叫声的神经结构，都有相似之处。最近的几项研究表明，这可能也有发展上的亲缘关系。例如，婴儿和青少年显然需要经验来产生和适当的上下文使用呼叫，有效地表示外部环境中的对象或事件。猕猴声音交流的复杂性是dr。哈罗德和莎拉·古佐勒斯。在之前对两种猕猴的研究中，Gouzouleses发现，在声音上不同类型的招募尖叫与情况的特定特征有关(例如，对手的相对优势等级和攻击的严重程度)，并似乎为盟军提供有关干预战术决策的信息。Gouzouleses现在正在研究幼年猕猴获得交流能力的问题，以及在类似环境中使用的叫声的声学特征的物种差异问题。在埃默里大学耶基斯地区灵长类动物研究中心的大型室外围栏中，将收集三组猴子（代表三种猕猴）的发声和相关行为数据。Gouzouleses的新方法分析了发声行为的发育变化，采用了多变量统计技术（判别分析）和24种声学测量来评估成人、青少年和婴儿之间的差异。

In this decade, research has revealed rudimentary but intriguing similarities between certain aspects of human language and the vocal communication of monkeys living in social groups. There are parallels in categorical perception of primate calls and speech, in some of the functions of calls and words, and even in the neural structures involved in the control and production of speech and monkey calls. Several recent studies have suggested that there may be developmental affinities as well. For example, infants and juveniles apparently require experience for both production and proper contextual usage of calls that effectively represent objects or events in their external environments. Complexity in the vocal communication of macaque monkeys is the theme of research by Drs. Harold and Sarah Gouzoules. In previous work on two species of macaques, the Gouzouleses found that acoustically distinct types of recruitment screams are associated with specific features of the situation (e.g., the relative dominance rank of an opponent and the severity of the attack) and appear to provide allies with information pertinent to decisions about intervention tactics. The Gouzouleses now are investigating the acquisition of communicative competence by young macaques and the question of species differences in the acoustic features of calls used in similar contexts. Vocalizations and concomitant behavioral data will be collected on three groups of monkeys (representing three macaque species) maintained in large outdoor enclosures at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center of Emory University. The Gouzouleses' novel approach to the analysis of the developmental modification of vocal behavior employs a multivariate statistical technique (discriminant analysis) and a battery of two dozen acoustic measurements to assess differences between adults, juveniles, and infants.