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Great ape interaction: Ladyginian but not Gricean
Thom Scott-Phillips1,2, Christophe Heintz3
1Institute for Logic, Cognition, Language and Information, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
Summary
Great apes use basic intentional communication (Ladyginian), but lack the specifically informative intentions (Gricean) crucial for human language. This difference in social cognition, not communication systems, shaped language evolution.
Area of Science:
- Primate communication
- Evolutionary psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Nonhuman great apes exhibit humanlike gestural communication, meeting criteria for intentionality.
- Significant differences exist between ape and human communication, particularly in scope and range.
- A unified explanation for these similarities and differences remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To distinguish between Ladyginian (general intention) and Gricean (informative intention) expression.
- To frame these distinctions within a "special case of" attention manipulation.
- To explain ape communication tendencies and human language origins.
Main Methods:
- Distinguishing Ladyginian and Gricean intentions in communication.
- Analyzing great ape interaction patterns (dyadic, here-and-now, perceptual resemblance).
- Reinterpreting video footage of great ape gestures.
Main Results:
- Great ape communication is characterized as Ladyginian but not Gricean.
- Observed ape interaction tendencies are products of Ladyginian communication.
- Several varieties of meaning, continuous with each other, were identified.
Conclusions:
- Evolution of linguistic meaning stems from changes in social cognition, not communication systems.
- The development of Gricean intentions enabled human language readiness.
- Cognitive phenotypes enabling specific attention manipulation modes drove evolutionary shifts.
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