Detlev Ploog
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263112
- eISBN:
- 9780191734885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263112.003.0007
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
From an evolutionary perspective, the voice was a prerequisite for the emergence of speech. Speech, the most advanced mode of vocal communication, became possible only after gradual transformations ...
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From an evolutionary perspective, the voice was a prerequisite for the emergence of speech. Speech, the most advanced mode of vocal communication, became possible only after gradual transformations of the sound-producing system and its central nervous control, in co-evolution with the transformations of the auditory system, had taken place. The discussion suggests that the last step in the evolution of the phonatory system in the brain was the outgrowing and augmenting of the fine fibre portion of the pyramidal tract synapsing directly with the motor nuclei for the vocal cords and the tongue, so that the direct and voluntary control of vocal behaviour became possible. It holds that the answer to the question raised in the title is ‘yes’. The neural basis is in fact quite different. The chapter also explains this difference and its consequences for the evolution of language.Less
From an evolutionary perspective, the voice was a prerequisite for the emergence of speech. Speech, the most advanced mode of vocal communication, became possible only after gradual transformations of the sound-producing system and its central nervous control, in co-evolution with the transformations of the auditory system, had taken place. The discussion suggests that the last step in the evolution of the phonatory system in the brain was the outgrowing and augmenting of the fine fibre portion of the pyramidal tract synapsing directly with the motor nuclei for the vocal cords and the tongue, so that the direct and voluntary control of vocal behaviour became possible. It holds that the answer to the question raised in the title is ‘yes’. The neural basis is in fact quite different. The chapter also explains this difference and its consequences for the evolution of language.
Justine Cassell
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198524519
- eISBN:
- 9780191689215
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198524519.003.0011
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter discusses ‘embodied conversational agents’ as a way of modeling human gesture–speech behaviour, and as a way of creating a new paradigm for human–computer interaction. In terms of the ...
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This chapter discusses ‘embodied conversational agents’ as a way of modeling human gesture–speech behaviour, and as a way of creating a new paradigm for human–computer interaction. In terms of the first goal, it provides evidence that gesture and speech are different communicative manifestations of one single mental representation by attempting to model the interaction between them. Research on the relationship between gesture and speech has been difficult to evaluate because of its descriptive basis. One way to move from descriptive to predictive theories is via formal models, which point up gaps in knowledge and fuzziness in theoretical explanations.Less
This chapter discusses ‘embodied conversational agents’ as a way of modeling human gesture–speech behaviour, and as a way of creating a new paradigm for human–computer interaction. In terms of the first goal, it provides evidence that gesture and speech are different communicative manifestations of one single mental representation by attempting to model the interaction between them. Research on the relationship between gesture and speech has been difficult to evaluate because of its descriptive basis. One way to move from descriptive to predictive theories is via formal models, which point up gaps in knowledge and fuzziness in theoretical explanations.
