A good conversation should proceed like a tennis match: players each take turns responding, knowing instinctively(本能) when to speak and when to listen. This kind of complicated and back-and-forth talk is often considered to be possessed only by humans. However, according to a recent study, animals also seem to know when to speak and when to listen.
The study involved over 300 animals including birds, mammals(哺乳动物), insects, and frogs which practice turn-taking behavior. These animals alternate their call and response in a similar way humans communicate. Monkeys, for example, often exchange calls to locate each other in the wild and figure out whether they know one another.
While forms of communication are mostly sound-based, several species have more creative forms of viewable communication. Baby monkeys let their parents know they want to be carried with arm gestures, while birds, insects and frogs can get their messages across through colorful displays.
Kobin Kendrick, the main co-author on the study, says that making comparisons among animals that take turns when communicating can give us a better understanding of how this feature evolved in humans and our ancestors. "We know very little about the evolution and origin of the human language, so any possibility of gaining insight into it is worth going after," he says.
Additionally, while the idea of turn-taking might bring to mind a picture of orderly, well-mannered animals, Kendrick stresses that this isn't always the case. Owl(猫头鹰)chicks may try to outdo each other by making louder sounds in an effort to attract favor from their mothers during feeding. "This can be seen as an exception to the rule, highlighting the importance of turn-taking in general." says Kendrick.
One problem with the study is that researchers themselves don't know how to communicate with others outside their particular species of interest. Kendrick stresses another goal of the study is to create a wider framework that can bring together all the different researches on turn-taking, allowing scientists to conduct more cross-species comparisons. "We all believe strongly these fields can benefit from each other, and we hope the study will drive more crosstalk between humans and animals in the future, " says Kendrick.
