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Related Experiment Videos

Cost and complexity: selection for speech and language.

John L Locke1

  • 1Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, Lehman College, City University of New York, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA. John.Locke@lehman.cuny.edu

Journal of Theoretical Biology
|February 23, 2008
PubMed
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The handicap principle struggles to explain spoken language, as speech costs are often low and messages can be honest. This principle overlooks how speech attractiveness and language content evolve independently.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Linguistics
  • Human Cognition

Background:

  • The handicap principle, a theory in evolutionary biology, posits that costly signals honestly advertise an individual's quality.
  • Its application to spoken language remains debated, with some studies overlooking key aspects of human development and social ecology.
  • Previous assumptions about speech's energetic cost and message veracity have been challenged.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the applicability of the handicap principle to spoken language.
  • To explore the relationship between the physical production of speech and the linguistic content of language.
  • To understand how speech evolved as a complex communication system.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of the handicap principle in relation to speech production and language.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of the energetic costs associated with vocalizations versus linguistic complexity.
  • Review of research on honest signaling, social ecology, and human cognitive development.

    • Main Results:

    • The handicap principle's assumptions about high energetic costs for speech are often inaccurate.
    • Speech attractiveness can be enhanced independently of linguistic content, suggesting different evolutionary pressures.
    • Honest signaling in speech, particularly within social groups, is a significant factor often overlooked by the principle.

    Conclusions:

    • The handicap principle, as traditionally applied, is insufficient to fully explain the evolution of spoken language.
    • Speech and language involve distinct resources and evolutionary pathways, with low production costs enabling elaborate displays.
    • Future research should consider the interplay of physiological signaling, linguistic complexity, and social factors in language evolution.