An Experimental Investigation of the Role of Collaboration in the Evolution of Communication Systems

Walker, Bradley and Fay, Nicolas and Shane, Rogers and Swoboda, Nikolaus Guyon (2009). An Experimental Investigation of the Role of Collaboration in the Evolution of Communication Systems. In: "31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2009", 29/07/2009 - 01/08/2009, Amsterdam, Holanda. ISBN 978-0-9768318-5-3.

Description

Title: An Experimental Investigation of the Role of Collaboration in the Evolution of Communication Systems
Author/s:
  • Walker, Bradley
  • Fay, Nicolas
  • Shane, Rogers
  • Swoboda, Nikolaus Guyon
Item Type: Presentation at Congress or Conference (Article)
Event Title: 31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2009
Event Dates: 29/07/2009 - 01/08/2009
Event Location: Amsterdam, Holanda
Title of Book: Proceedings of 31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2009
Date: 2009
ISBN: 978-0-9768318-5-3
Subjects:
Freetext Keywords: Language; collaboration; learning biases; cultural evolution; communication systems.
Faculty: Facultad de Informática (UPM)
Department: Inteligencia Artificial
Creative Commons Licenses: Recognition - No derivative works - Non commercial

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Abstract

Imitation alone cannot explain language evolution. Two additional ingredients have been proposed that may help explain the evolution of language systems: learning biases and social collaboration. An experimental method was developed that isolated the roles of collaboration and learning biases in the development of novel communication systems. Participants played a Pictionary-like task to develop ad hoc graphical communication systems in one of two conditions: one in which they interacted with a partner (Interaction condition), and one in which they received the same images from a “pseudo-partner” but did not interact (PseudoInteraction condition). Comparison of the resultant communication systems showed that the Interaction condition yielded higher identification accuracy, greater refinement of graphical signs and more alignment on a set of shared graphical signs (in fact, graphical alignment did not occur at all in the Pseudo-Interaction condition). Thus, collaboration plays a crucial role in the evolution of human communication systems.

More information

Item ID: 5735
DC Identifier: https://oa.upm.es/5735/
OAI Identifier: oai:oa.upm.es:5735
Official URL: http://cogsci.astrokraai.nl/index.php?talk=439
Deposited by: Memoria Investigacion
Deposited on: 19 Jan 2011 11:04
Last Modified: 20 Apr 2016 14:28
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