RUI - Investigating the Design of Human Communication Systems in the Laboratory: The Effects of Mimesis

当失聪儿童不接触手语时，他们会自发地发展出新的交流方式。在实验室里，在缺乏传统交流方式的情况下进行互动的成年人也具有发展新型交流方式的非凡才能。叶史瓦大学的Bruno Galantucci和他的学生利用这些观察结果来验证一个关于自然语言核心设计原则的简单假设。在最基本的层面上，口语依赖于几十种基本形式。然而，手语依赖于更多的基本形式。手语和口语还有另一个不同之处：手语的形式比语言的形式更容易模仿它们所指的世界的各个方面。这两种差异可能是紧密相连的：通信系统的形式越是模仿世界，该系统就越有可能依赖于一大批基本形式。如果正确的话，这就为口语和手语在设计上的核心差异提供了一个简单而优雅的解释。这项研究将在以本科生为主的叶史瓦大学进行，并将为本科生提供良好的研究经验。该项目还开发了一种创新的方法，将通过一个专门的网站随时提供给其他研究人员。这种方法可用于进一步研究支持人类交流的核心机制。关于这些机制的知识有许多潜在的应用。例如，它可用于(a)设计便于在互联网上进行普遍通信的语言；(b)发展新科技，帮助有沟通障碍的人士；(c)改进外语教学方法。

When deaf children are not exposed to sign language they spontaneously develop novel forms of communication. In the laboratory, adults interacting in the absence of conventional means of communication also have a remarkable talent for developing novel forms of communication. Bruno Galantucci and his students at Yeshiva University use these observations to test a simple hypothesis about the core design principles of natural languages. At the most fundamental level, spoken languages rely on a few dozen basic forms. Sign languages, however, rely on a much larger number of basic forms. Signed and spoken languages also differ in another way: The forms of sign language can more easily mimic aspects of the world to which they refer than can the forms of speech. It may be that the two differences are intimately connected: The more the forms of a communication system mimic the world, the more likely it is that the system relies on a large set of basic forms. If correct, this provides a simple and elegant explanation for a core difference in design between spoken and signed languages. This research will be carried out at Yeshiva University, a primarily undergraduate institution, and will provide excellent research experience for undergraduate students. The project also develops an innovative methodology which will be made readily available to other researchers through a dedicated website. Such methodology can be used for further investigations of the core mechanisms supporting human communication. Knowledge about these mechanisms has a number of potential applications. For example, it can be used (a) to design languages which facilitate universal communication over the internet; (b) to develop new technologies to help people who suffer from communication disorders; and (c) to improve the methods used for teaching foreign languages.