Abstract: Communication in animals. Mechanical and electrical communication in animals Animal communication: biological signal field

Animal communications. Like humans, animals live in very complex world, filled with a lot of information and contacts with a variety of objects of animate and inanimate nature. Absolutely every population, be it insects, fish, birds or mammals, is not a random accumulation of individuals, but a completely in a certain way orderly, organized system. Maintaining order and organization arises as a result of the clash of interests of individual animals, each of which determines its place and position in common system, focusing on their fellows. To do this, animals must be able to communicate to their peers about their needs and the possibilities of achieving them. Therefore, each species must have certain ways of transmitting information. These are various methods of signaling, which, by analogy with our own, can be conventionally called “language”.

Animal language is a rather complex concept and is not limited only to the sound communication channel. The language of postures and body movements plays an important role in the exchange of information. A bared mouth, raised fur, extended claws, a threatening growl or hiss quite convincingly indicate the aggressive intentions of the beast. The ritual mating dance of birds is a complex system of postures and body movements that conveys information of a completely different kind to the partner. In such animal language, for example, the tail and ears play a huge role. Their numerous characteristic positions indicate subtle nuances of the owner’s moods and intentions, the meaning of which is not always clear to the observer, although obvious to the animal’s relatives.

The most important element of the language of animals is the language of smells. To be convinced of this, it is enough to watch a dog going out for a walk: with what concentrated attention and thoroughness it sniffs all the pillars and trees that have the marks of other dogs, and leaves its own on top of them. Many animals have special glands that secrete a strong-smelling substance specific to this species, traces of which the animal leaves in the places where it stays and thereby marks the boundaries of its territory.

Finally, sound language has a very special meaning for animals. In order to receive information through the language of postures and body movements, animals must see each other. The language of smells suggests that the animal is close to the place where another animal is or has been. The advantage of the language of sounds is that it allows animals to communicate without seeing each other, for example, in complete darkness and at a long distance. Thus, the trumpet voice of a deer calling a friend and challenging an opponent to battle can be heard for many kilometers. The most important feature of animal language is its emotional nature. The alphabet of this language includes exclamations such as: “Attention!”, “Caution, danger!”, “Save yourself who can!”, “Get away!” and so on. Another feature of animal language is the dependence of signals on the situation. Many animals have only a dozen or two sound signals in their vocabulary. For example, the American yellow-bellied marmot has only 8 of them. But with the help of these signals, marmots are able to communicate to each other much more information than information about eight possible situations, since each signal in different situations will say something different. The semantic meaning of most animal signals is probabilistic, depending on the situation.

Thus, the language of most animals is a set of specific signals - sound, olfactory, visual, etc., which act in a given situation and involuntarily reflect the state of the animal at a given specific moment.

The bulk of animal signals transmitted through the channels of the main types of communication do not have a direct addressee. This natural languages Animals are fundamentally different from human language, which functions under the control of consciousness and will.

Animal language signals are strictly specific to each species and are genetically determined. They are generally the same in all individuals of a given species, and their set is practically not subject to expansion. The signals used by animals of most species are quite diverse and numerous.

However, all their diversity in different species, in terms of semantic meaning, fits into approximately 10 main categories:

signals intended for sexual partners and possible competitors;

signals that ensure the exchange of information between parents and offspring;

cries of alarm;

messages about food availability;

signals that help maintain contact between pack members;

"switch" signals designed to prepare the animal for the action of subsequent stimuli, the so-called metacommunication. Thus, the “invitation to play” pose characteristic of dogs precedes play fighting, accompanied by play aggressiveness;

“intention” signals that precede any reaction: for example, birds make special movements with their wings before taking off;

signals associated with the expression of aggression;

signals of peacefulness;

signals of dissatisfaction (frustration).

Most animal signals are strictly species-specific, but among them there are some that can be quite informative for representatives of other species. These are, for example, alarm calls, messages about the presence of food or signals of aggression.

Along with this, animal signals are very specific, that is, they signal to relatives about something specific. Animals distinguish each other well by their voices, the female recognizes the male and the cubs, and they, in turn, perfectly distinguish the voices of their parents. However, unlike human speech, which has the ability to convey endless amounts of complex information not only of a concrete but also of an abstract nature, the language of animals is always concrete, that is, it signals a specific environment or state of the animal. This is the fundamental difference between animal language and human speech, the properties of which are predetermined in an unusually developed abilities human brain to abstract thinking.

Communication systems used by animals, I.P. Pavlov called it the first signaling system. He emphasized that this system is common to animals and humans, since to obtain information about the world around us, humans use virtually the same communication systems.

All animals have to get food, defend themselves, guard the boundaries of their territory, look for marriage partners, and take care of their offspring. For a normal life, each individual needs accurate information about everything that surrounds it. This information is obtained through systems and means of communication. Animals receive communication signals and other information about the outside world through the physical senses of sight, hearing and touch, and the chemical senses of smell and taste.

In most taxonomic groups of animals, all sense organs are present and function simultaneously. However, depending on their anatomical structure and lifestyle, the functional role of different systems turns out to be different. Sensory systems complement each other well and provide complete information to a living organism about environmental factors. At the same time, in the event of a complete or partial failure of one or even several of them, the remaining systems strengthen and expand their functions, thereby compensating for the lack of information. For example, blind and deaf animals are able to navigate their environment using their sense of smell and touch. It is well known that deaf and mute people easily learn to understand the speech of their interlocutor by the movement of his lips, and blind people - to read using their fingers.

Depending on the degree of development of certain sense organs in animals, they can be used when communicating. different ways communications. Thus, in the interactions of many invertebrates, as well as some vertebrates that lack eyes, tactile communication dominates. Because of physical properties aquatic environment, its inhabitants communicate with each other mainly using visual and sound signals.

Fish use at least three types of communication signals: auditory, visual and chemical, often combining them. Although amphibians and reptiles have all the sensory organs characteristic of vertebrates, their forms of communication are relatively simple. Bird communication reaches high level development, with the exception of chemocommunication, which is present in literally a few species. When communicating with individuals of their own, as well as other species, including mammals and even humans, birds use mainly audio as well as visual signals. Thanks to the good development of the auditory and vocal apparatus, birds have excellent hearing and are able to produce many different sounds. Schooling birds use a greater variety of sound and visual signals than solitary birds. They have signals that gather the flock, notify about danger, signals “everything is calm” and even calls for a meal. In communication terrestrial mammals quite a lot of space is occupied by information about emotional states - fear, anger, pleasure, hunger and pain.

However, this far from exhausts the content of communications - even in non-primate animals.

Animals wandering in groups, through visual signals, maintain the integrity of the group and warn each other about danger;

bears, within their territory, peel off the bark on tree trunks or rub against them, thus informing about the size of their body and gender;

skunks and a number of other animals secrete odorous substances for protection or as sexual attractants;

male deer organize ritual tournaments to attract females during the rutting season; wolves express their attitude by aggressive growling or friendly tail wagging;

seals in rookeries communicate using calls and special movements;

angry bear coughs threateningly.

Mammalian communication signals were developed for communication between individuals of the same species, but often these signals are also perceived by individuals of other species that are nearby. In Africa, the same spring is sometimes used for watering at the same time by different animals, for example, wildebeest, zebra and waterbuck. If a zebra, with its keen sense of hearing and smell, senses the approach of a lion or other predator, its actions inform its neighbors at the watering hole, and they react accordingly. In this case, interspecific communication takes place.

Man uses his voice to communicate to an immeasurably greater extent than any other primate. For greater expressiveness, words are accompanied by gestures and facial expressions. Other primates use signal postures and movements in communication much more often than we do, and use their voice much less often. These components of primate communicative behavior are not innate - animals learn in various ways communication as you grow older.

Raising cubs in the wild is based on imitation and the development of stereotypes; they are looked after most of the time and punished when necessary; they learn what's edible by watching their mothers and learn gestures and vocal communication mostly through trial and error. The assimilation of communicative behavioral stereotypes is a gradual process. The most interesting features of primate communication behavior are easier to understand when we consider the circumstances in which different types of signals are used - chemical, tactile, auditory and visual.

- 40.31 Kb

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University named after. Minina

Vocational Pedagogical Institute

Department of Psychology of Professional Development

CONTROL WORK ON DISCIPLINE

ZOOPSYCHOLOGY

Topic: “Forms and means of animal communication”

Completed by a student………...
groups PSZ-11-1……………..
Kretova A.A. ...………………..
Checked by Associate Professor, PhD in Psychology
Serebryakova T.A....…………...

N.Novgorod
2011

Introduction ______________________________ ______________________________3
Definition of the concept of “Animal Communication” ________________________________4
Forms and means of animal communication _____________________________________7
Methods for studying animal communication ____________________________ 13
Conclusion ______________________________ ______________________________14

Introduction

The purpose of this work is to define the concept, forms and means of animal communication. As is known, there is no unity in the interpretation of the two terms “communication” and “communication” (if we consider the relationships between animals). Some believe that these concepts are synonymous, others argue that communication is a unique feature of humanity, as it is accompanied by the exchange of information through language.

In this work, the concept of “animal communication” will be explored using the first approach, since there is an opinion that communication in animals occurs with the help of special signals: sounds, smells, movements. One of the tasks of this work will be to prove this approach.

Moreover, the various forms, means of animal communication, and communication channels will be described using examples from animal life. In addition to covering the topic, the work will consider methods for studying animal communication.

Definition of “Animal Communication”

Communication is the essence of all social behavior. It is difficult to imagine social behavior without the exchange of information, or a system of information transmission that is not in some sense public. When an animal performs an action that changes the behavior of another individual, we can say that communication is taking place.

Communication (from Latin communicatio - message, transmission) is the transfer of information from one system to another through special material media, signals. 1 Communications in the animal world are called biocommunications. They manifest themselves in the form of communication, that is, a connection between individuals of the same or different species established by receiving the signals they produce.

Types of signals:

Specific (chemical, mechanical, optical, acoustic, electrical, etc.
Nonspecific (associated with breathing, movement, nutrition, etc.)

These signals are perceived by the corresponding receptors: organs of vision, hearing, smell, taste, skin sensitivity, lateral line organs (in fish), thermo- and electroreceptors. The production (generation) of signals and their reception (reception) form communication channels (acoustic, chemical, etc.) between organisms for the transmission of information of different physical or chemical nature. Information received through various communication channels is processed in different parts of the nervous system, and then compared (integrated) in its higher parts, where the body’s response is formed. 2 Signals are given by animals in various contexts, which accordingly influence their meaning, for example, with their help they provide protection from enemies and unfavorable environmental factors, facilitate the search for food, individuals of the opposite sex, communicate between parents and offspring, and regulate intra- and interspecific interactions and etc.

signals that ensure the exchange of information between parents and offspring;
cries of alarm;
messages about food availability;
signals that help maintain contact between pack members;
“signals - switches”, for example, to notify about the intention to play;
signals associated with the expression of aggression;
signals of peacefulness;
signals of dissatisfaction (frustration). 3

Functions of communication in animals:

Provides the optimal distance between animals for each specific behavioral situation;
Notifies about species or gender;
Reports the age and state of metabolic processes in the animal’s body;
Warns of changes in the external environment;
Notifies about the occupancy of the territory;
Reports the emotional state and social status of an individual. 4

Studying the behavior of organisms, their signaling, communication and connections allows us to better understand the mechanism of structuring a species population and outline ways and means of controlling its dynamics. 5

For many species of animals, ethologists, zoopsychologists and other specialists have compiled catalogs describing the language of postures, facial expressions, and gestures. In the last 30 years, the study of the linguistic behavior of animals has opened up completely new perspectives for understanding their higher mental functions. It's about using symbols, categories, and even the ability to hide one's “thoughts” and “intentions.” In other words, by studying the communication capabilities of animals, we reveal additional capabilities of their intelligence.

Forms and means of animal communication

Forms of information exchange (communication) between animals
diverse. In principle, a communication system consists of a transmitter (sender), a communication channel and a receiver (receiver). As mentioned above, the transmitted signals can be of a chemical, optical, electrical or mechanical nature.

Chemical alarm (other nameOlfactory communication) - the most common and perhaps the most ancient way transmission of information in the animal world, which is carried out through the production of certain metabolic products on the one hand, and on the other is perceived by the olfactory organs. Chemical signals persist for a long time, bypass obstacles, can be used at night, and indicate certain objects or events in the external environment. 6

Substances that affect receptors and serve to exchange information between individuals of the same species are called pheromones. These include sexual attractants (for example, in moths), substances for marking territory or for laying odorous trails, as well as alarm pheromones, which cause reactions of fear and flight (in many freshwater herbivorous fish) or increased aggressiveness (in ants and bees). From these very short-lived signaling pheromones, we must distinguish trigger pheromones, which can cause long-term physiological changes in the recipient. This is, for example, the uterine substance in bees. During the swarming period, this substance attracts bees.

The sense of smell is of particular importance to tree-dwelling primitive nocturnal primates (prosimians) such as tupai and lemurs. Tupai mark territory using gland secretions. Other lemurs use urine and feces for this purpose. The strength of the smell varies with different seasons of the year. Animals smell especially strongly during the breeding season.

Great apes, like humans, do not have a developed olfactory system. In addition, only a few of them have skin glands specifically designed to produce signaling substances. Using these signals, many mammals can distinguish familiar from unfamiliar, relative from stranger; mother and her cubs also recognize each other by their characteristic smell. There is a specific group smell and at the same time an individual one, inherent only in certain individuals that are familiar to the face, which allows you to find your relatives and not confuse them with strangers. 7

Optical communication

Gestures, facial expressions, and sometimes body position and muzzle color are the main visual signals of great apes. Among the threatening signals are sudden jumping to your feet and pulling your head into your shoulders, striking the ground with your hands, violently shaking trees and randomly throwing stones.

Signals such as grimacing, yawning, moving the tongue, flattening the ears, and smacking the lips can be friendly or unfriendly. Chimpanzees use rich facial expressions to communicate. Some primates use their tails to communicate. For example, a male lemur rhythmically moves his tail before mating, and a female langur lowers her tail to the ground when the male approaches her. In some species of primates, subordinate males raise their tails when a dominant male approaches, indicating that they belong to a lower social rank. Fireflies, glowing, attract individuals of the opposite sex. And sea fish the light acts as a lure for smaller fish to serve as prey. And the cuttlefish, for example, defending itself from enemies, releases mucus that glows.

Optical signaling can use colors and shapes in the form of permanent or briefly displayed signals. Constant signals (colors or shapes) serve to communicate species, sex, and often individual characteristics; briefly displayed colors or shapes communicate certain states, for example, the state of sexual activity (nuptial plumage in fish and birds), general arousal or readiness for hostile actions. Increasing the silhouette of the body by raising fur, ruffling feathers, straightening different sides limbs or other appendages of the body are typical threatening gestures. Often these gestures are accompanied by sound signals (snorting, growling, etc.) and characteristic movements. Gestures of submission (submissive postures), on the other hand, are usually associated with a reduction in the silhouette of the body (crouched posture). They lead to an immediate cessation of the struggle.Fish have good eyesight, but see poorly in the dark, such as in the depths of the ocean. Most fish perceive color to some degree. This is important during the mating season because the bright colors of individuals of one sex, usually males, attract individuals of the opposite sex. Color changes serve as a warning to other fish, indicating that they should not invade someone else's territory, etc. 8

Mechanical communication can be produced through tactile, vibration or sound stimuli. Occurs due to the sensitivity of the receptors of the skin and musculoskeletal system, vibrissae, that is, through the sense of touch. 9 Communication in birds has been better studied than in any other animal. Birds communicate with members of their own species, as well as other species, including mammals, and even humans. To do this, they use sound (not only voice), as well as visual signals. Thanks to the developed hearing system, birds hear well. Schooling birds use a greater variety of sound and visual signals than solitary birds. Acoustic information is used not only by birds and mammals, but also by amphibians. The evening silence can be broken by a “concert” of frogs. First one frog begins to sing, then another, and then a whole choir sounds. Marine mammals have excellent hearing, which is also helped by the high sound conductivity of water. Seals are among the noisiest aquatic mammals. During the breeding season, females and young seals howl and moo, and these sounds are often drowned out by the barks and roars of males. Fish make sounds by rattling their gill covers, and using their swim bladders they make grunts and whistles. Sound signals are used to gather in a flock, as an invitation to breed, to defend the territory, and also as a method of recognition. In insects, studies have shown that sounds are vital important means communication. For example, they can serve as an element of mating behavior or carry some information about the location of nectar. Bees communicate with each other using sound created by the movement of their wings. The chirping of grasshoppers or crickets is also a mating song, but these insects produce sounds by rubbing their feet along the serrated edge of their wings or rubbing their wings. Each type of insect makes its own sound in flight, different from others, by which it can be recognized. 10

Tactile communication due to its nature, it is only possible at close range. Tactile communication remains important in many vertebrates, in particular in mammals, the most “social” species of which spend a significant portion of their time in physical contact with each other. Among primates, fur searching is the most important form of social contact. Thus, tactile “communication” dominates the interaction of many invertebrates, for example, in blind worker termites that never leave their underground tunnels, or in earthworms that crawl out of their burrows at night to mate. eleven

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Introduction

Bibliography

Introduction

We are accustomed to the fact that communication is, first of all, language. What is language? Scientists were able to answer this question only after asking it explicitly - and to do this they had to go beyond everyday linguistic experience. Accordingly, the definition of language is given not in linguistics - the science of language, but in semiotics - the science of signs and sign systems. And it is given using the concept of “sign”, which should be given attention, first of all.

A sign is not just a letter or a number (or a musical note, a road sign or a military insignia). In addition to those listed, there are weather signs (they are more often called omens or signs), and signs of attention shown by one person to another, and even “signs of fate.” Obviously, what unites the listed signs is that they:

1. any perceived events themselves or;

2. point to other events or things;

3 are perceptible.

Therefore, in order to assert the presence of language in any animal, it is enough to detect the signs produced and perceived by them, which they are able to distinguish from each other.

Soviet semiotician Yu. S. Stepanov expressed himself even more clearly: “Until now, the question of “animal language” has been posed one-sidedly. Meanwhile, from the point of view of semiotics, the question should be posed not like this: “Is there a “language of animals” and how does it manifest itself?”, but differently: the instinctive behavior of animals itself is a kind of language based on lower-order symbolism. In the gamut of linguistic or language-like phenomena, it is, in fact, nothing more than “language of a weak degree.”

1. Mechanical and electrical communications in animals

Animal communication, biocommunication, connections between individuals of the same or different species, established by receiving the signals they produce. These signals (specific - chemical, mechanical, optical, acoustic, electrical, etc., or non-specific - accompanying breathing, movement, nutrition, etc.) are perceived by the corresponding receptors: organs of vision, hearing, smell, taste, skin sensitivity, organs lateral line (in fish), thermo- and electroreceptors. The production (generation) of signals and their reception (reception) form communication channels (acoustic, chemical, etc.) between organisms for the transmission of information of different physical or chemical nature. Information received through various communication channels is processed in different parts of the nervous system, and then compared (integrated) in its higher parts, where the body’s response is formed. Animal communication makes it easier to find food and favorable conditions habitat, protection from enemies and harmful influences. Without animal communication, it is impossible to meet individuals of different sexes, interact between parents and offspring, form groups (flocks, herds, swarms, colonies, etc.) and regulate relationships between individuals within them (territorial relations, hierarchy, etc.).

The role of one or another communication channel in animal communication varies among different species and is determined by the ecology and morpho-physiology of the species that have developed during evolution, and also depends on changing environmental conditions, biological rhythms, etc. As a rule, animal communication is carried out using several simultaneously communication channels.

In the communication of aquatic animals, the perception of local water movements by the lateral line organs plays an important role. This type of distant mechanoreception allows you to detect an enemy or prey and maintain order in a flock. Tactile forms of animal communication (for example, mutual grooming of plumage or fur) are important for the regulation of intraspecific relationships in some birds and mammals. Females and subordinates usually clean dominant individuals (mainly adult males). In a number of electric fish, lampreys and hagfish, the electric field they create serves to mark territory and helps with short-range orientation and search for food. In “non-electric” fish, a common electric field is formed in a school, coordinating the behavior of individual individuals. Visual communication of animals, associated with the development of photosensitivity and vision, is usually accompanied by the formation of structures that acquire signal significance (coloring and color patterns, contours of the body or its parts) and the emergence of ritual movements and facial expressions. This is how the process of ritualization occurs - the formation of discrete signals, each of which is associated with a specific situation and has a certain conditional meaning (threat, submission, pacification, etc.), reducing the danger of intraspecific clashes. Bees, having found honey plants, are able to use “dance” to convey to other foragers information about the location of the food found and the distance to it (works of the German physiologist K. Frisch). For many species, complete catalogs of their “language of postures, gestures and facial expressions” have been compiled - the so-called ethograms. These displays are often characterized by masking or exaggeration of certain features of color and shape. Visual communication of animals plays a particularly important role among inhabitants of open landscapes (steppes, deserts, tundras); its value is significantly less in aquatic animals and thicket inhabitants.

Since linguistic signs can be intentional (produced intentionally, based on knowledge of their semantic meanings) and non-intentional (produced unintentionally), this question needs to be more specific, formulated as follows: do animals use intentional and non-intentional linguistic signs?

The question of non-intentional linguistic signs in animals is relatively simple. Numerous studies of animal behavior have shown that non-intentional language is widespread among animals. Animals, especially the so-called social animals, communicate with each other using signs produced instinctively, without awareness of their semantic meanings and their communicative significance. Let's give some examples.

Apparently, among more or less developed animals there are no animals that do not resort to the help of linguistic signs. You can additionally point out the calling cries of male amphibians, the distress signals given by an amphibian captured by an enemy, the “hunting signals” of wolves (a signal to gather, a call to go on the hot trail, a hooting emitted when directly perceiving the pursued prey), and numerous signals used in herds of wild or semi-wild cattle, etc. Even fish, whose proverbial muteness has become common, communicate widely with each other using sound signals. These signals serve as a means of scaring away enemies and attracting females. Recent studies have established that fish also use characteristic postures and movements (freezing in an unnatural position, circling in place, etc.) as a means of communication.

However, the example of non-intentional language remains, of course, the language of ants and the language of bees.

According to Professor P. Marikovsky, who studied the behavior of the red-breasted woodborer, one of the species of ants, for several years, the most important role in ant language belongs to gestures and touches. Professor Marikovsky was able to identify more than two dozen meaningful gestures. However, he was able to determine the meaning of only 14 signals. When explaining the essence of non-intentional language, we have already given examples of ant sign language. In addition to these, we will consider several more cases of signaling used by ants.

If an insect that has crawled or flown to an anthill is inedible, then the ant that first established this gives a signal to other ants by climbing onto the insect and jumping down from it. Usually one jump is enough, but if necessary, the jump is repeated many times until the ants heading towards the insect leave it alone. When meeting an enemy, the ant takes a threatening pose (it rises and puts its abdomen forward), as if saying: “Beware!” etc.

Even more striking is the language of other social insects - bees. This language was first described by the outstanding German zoopsychologist Karl Frisch. The merits of K. Frisch in studying the life of bees are well known. His success in this area is largely due to the development of a subtle technique that allowed him to trace the slightest nuances of bee behavior.

It turns out that the circular dance of bees is only the simplest linguistic sign. Bees resort to it in cases where the honey is located closer than 100 meters from the hive. If the feeder was placed at a greater distance, the bees signaled the bribe with a waggle dance. When performing this dance, the bee runs in a straight line, then, returning to its original position, makes a semicircle to the left, then runs in a straight line again, but makes a semicircle to the right. At the same time, in a straight section, the bee quickly wags its abdomen from side to side (hence the name of the dance). The dance can last several minutes.

The waggle dance is most rapid when the bribe is located at a distance of 100 meters from the hive. The further the bribes are, the slower the dance becomes, the less often the turns to the left and right are made. K. Frisch managed to identify a purely mathematical pattern.

The languages we have talked about so far are non-intentional languages. The semantic meanings behind the units that form such a language are neither concepts nor representations. These semantic meanings are not realized. They represent traces in the nervous system, always existing only at the physiological level. Animals that resort to non-intentional linguistic signs are not aware of any of their semantic meanings, neither in the circumstances under which these signs can be used, nor in the effect they will have on their relatives. The use of non-intentional linguistic signs is carried out purely instinctively, without the help of consciousness or understanding.

This is why non-intentional linguistic signs are used under strictly defined conditions. Deviation from these conditions leads to disruption of the well-established “speech” mechanism. So, in one of his experiments, K. Frisch placed a feeder on the top of a radio tower - directly above the hive. The nectar collectors who returned to the hive could not indicate the direction of search for other bees, because in their vocabulary there is no sign assigned to the upward direction (flowers do not grow at the top). They performed the usual circular dance, which directed the bees to search for bribes around the hive on the ground. Therefore, none of the bees found the feeder. Thus, a system that operates flawlessly in the presence of familiar conditions immediately turns out to be ineffective as soon as these conditions change. When the feeder was removed from the radio mast and placed on the ground at a distance equal to the height of the tower, i.e., the usual conditions were restored, the system again showed its flawless operation. In the same way, with a horizontal arrangement of honeycombs (which is achieved by turning the hive), complete disorganization is observed in the bees’ dances, which disappears instantly when returning to normal conditions. The described facts reveal one of the main disadvantages of the non-intentional language of insects - its inflexibility, chained to strictly fixed circumstances, beyond which the mechanism of “speech” immediately breaks down.

A number of aquatic invertebrates, mainly some coelenterates (jellyfish), use tactile signals for communication: if one member of a large colony of coelenterates touches another, it immediately contracts, turning into a tiny lump. Immediately all other individuals of the colony repeat the action of the contracted animal.

Insects are generally tiny creatures, but their social organization rivals that of human society. Insect communities could never form, much less survive, without communication between their members. Insects communicate using visual cues, sounds, touch and chemical cues, including gustatory stimuli and odors, and are extremely sensitive to sounds and odors.

The constant licking and sniffing of each other by ants indicates the importance of touch as one of the means that organizes these insects into a colony; in the same way, by touching the abdomen of their “cows” (aphids) with their antennae, the ants inform them that they must secrete a drop of “milk” .

Forms of communication between amphibians and reptiles are relatively simple. This is partly due to a poorly developed brain, as well as the fact that these animals lack care for their offspring.

Many reptiles drive away strangers of their own or other species invading their territory, demonstrating threatening behavior - they open their mouths, inflate parts of their bodies (like spectacled snake), hit with the tail, etc. Snakes have relatively weak vision, they see the movement of objects, and not their shape and color; Species that hunt in open places have sharper vision. Some lizards, such as geckos and chameleons, perform ritual dances during courtship or sway in a peculiar way when moving.

During the breeding season, males of many bird species adopt complex signaling postures, preen their feathers, perform courtship dances, and perform various other actions accompanied by sound signals. The head and tail feathers, crowns and crests, even the apron-like arrangement of breast feathers are used by males to demonstrate their readiness to mate. An obligatory love ritual for the wandering albatross is a complex mating dance performed jointly by a male and a female.

The mating behavior of male birds sometimes resembles acrobatic stunts. Thus, the male of one of the species of birds of paradise performs a real somersault: sitting on a branch in full view of the female, presses his wings tightly to his body, falls from the branch, makes a complete somersault in the air and lands in the original position.

It has long been known that land mammals make mating calls and threat sounds, leave scent marks, sniff and gently caress each other. animal communication zoo nature

Touch and other bodily contacts - tactile signals - are widely used by monkeys when communicating. Langurs, baboons, gibbons and chimpanzees often hug each other in a friendly manner, and a baboon may lightly touch, poke, pinch, bite, sniff or even kiss another baboon as a sign of genuine affection. When two chimpanzees meet for the first time, they may gently touch the stranger's head, shoulder or thigh.

Monkeys constantly pick through their fur - cleaning each other (this behavior is called grooming), which serves as a manifestation of true closeness and intimacy. Grooming is especially important in primate groups where social dominance is maintained, such as rhesus monkeys, baboons and gorillas. in such groups, a subordinate individual often communicates, by loudly smacking her lips, that she wants to groom another who occupies a higher position in the social hierarchy.

It has long been known that gorillas beat their chests. In fact, these are not blows with a fist, but slaps with half-bent palms on the swollen chest, since the gorilla first takes in a full chest of air. Slaps inform group members that an intruder, and possibly an enemy, is nearby; at the same time they serve as a warning and threat to the stranger. Chest beating is only one of a whole series of similar actions, which also include sitting in an upright position, tilting the head to the side, screaming, grumbling, getting up, tearing and throwing plants. Only the dominant male, the leader of the group, has the right to carry out such actions; subordinate males and even females perform parts of the repertoire. Gorillas, chimpanzees and baboons grunt and make barking sounds, and gorillas also roar as a sign of warning and threat.

Among the threatening signals are sudden jumping to your feet and drawing your head into your shoulders, striking the ground with your hands, violently shaking trees and randomly throwing stones. By displaying the bright color of its muzzle, the African mandrill tames its subordinates. In a similar situation, the proboscis monkey from Borneo shows off its huge nose.

Staring in a baboon or gorilla signifies a threat, and in a baboon it is accompanied by frequent blinking, movement of the head up and down, flattening of the ears and arching of the eyebrows. To maintain order in the group, dominant baboons and gorillas now and then cast icy gazes at females, cubs and subordinate males. When two unfamiliar gorillas suddenly come face to face, staring can be a challenge. First, a roar is heard, two powerful animals retreat, and then suddenly approach each other, bending their heads forward. Stopping just before they touch, they begin to gaze intently into each other's eyes until one of them retreats. Real contractions are rare.

Signals such as grimacing, yawning, moving the tongue, flattening the ears, and smacking the lips can be either friendly or unfriendly. So, if a baboon presses his ears, but does not accompany this action with a direct gaze or blinking, his gesture means submission.

Some primates use their tails to communicate. For example, a male lemur rhythmically moves his tail before mating, and a female langur lowers her tail to the ground when the male approaches her. In some species of primates, subordinate males raise their tails when a dominant male approaches, indicating that they belong to a lower social rank.

Some aquatic mammals, especially those that spend part of their time on land, perform demonstrative actions related to the defense of territory and reproduction. With these few exceptions, visual communication is poorly used.

In aquatic mammals, tactile organs are distributed throughout the skin, and the sense of touch, especially important during periods of courtship and caring for offspring, is well developed. So, during the mating season, a couple sea lions often sit facing each other, intertwining their necks and caressing each other for hours.

2. Manifestation of stereotypy in animals kept in the zoo

Differences in animal behavior are qualitative and quantitative. From a qualitative point of view, there are no significant differences between the behavior of animals in nature and in captivity (or, more precisely, there should not be under proper conditions of detention). In quantitative terms, such differences, of course, exist and are sometimes quite significant. These differences are manifested in different frequencies of certain actions of animals, the direction of identical actions towards different objects and different attitudes to the same external stimuli. The most striking example is the attitude towards a person who in the zoo is no longer perceived as dangerous predator. In animals that came to the zoo from another geographical area, the timing of reproduction and molting is usually shifted. Separate question when, due to imperfect living conditions, animals are deprived of the opportunity to exhibit their characteristic forms of behavior. For example, when kept on a concrete floor, animals are deprived of the opportunity to dig holes, and herd animals when kept alone are deprived of social communication. Such situations are precisely what cause behavioral pathologies. It must be said that in recent years the point of view has become widespread in the zoo environment, according to which the better the zoo operates, the less the behavior of the animals in it differs from nature. I don’t quite understand why the dissatisfaction of an animal that was “not allowed to fight” is considered as a manifestation of “domestic” behavior. In my opinion, this is quite normal for wild animals.

Bibliography

1. Comparative psychology and zoopsychology. Reader. Ed. G.V. Kalyagina. - St. Petersburg, 2001.

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AQUATIC INVERTEBRATES

Aquatic invertebrates communicate primarily through visual and auditory signals. Bivalves, barnacles, and other similar invertebrates make sounds by opening and closing their shells or houses, and crustaceans such as lobsters make loud scraping sounds by rubbing their antennae against their shells. Crabs warn or scare off strangers by shaking their claws until they begin to crack, and male crabs emit this signal even when a person approaches. Due to the high sound conductivity of water, signals emitted by aquatic invertebrates are transmitted over long distances.

Vision plays a significant role in the communication of crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans. The brightly colored claws of male crabs attract females while warning rival males to keep their distance. Some species of crabs perform a mating dance, in which they swing their large claws in a rhythm characteristic of that species. Many deep-sea marine invertebrates, such as the sea worm Odontosyllis, have rhythmically flashing luminous organs called photophores.

Some aquatic invertebrates, such as lobsters and crabs, have taste buds at the base of their legs. Others do not have special olfactory organs, but most of the body surface is sensitive to the presence of chemicals in the water. Among aquatic invertebrates, chemical signals are used by the ciliated ciliates suvoika ( Vorticella) and sea acorns, from European land snails - grape snail (Helix pomatia). Suwoikas and sea acorns simply release chemicals that attract members of their species, while snails shoot thin, dart-shaped “love arrows” at each other. These miniature structures contain a substance that prepares the recipient for sperm transfer.

A number of aquatic invertebrates, mainly some coelenterates (jellyfish), use tactile signals for communication. If one member of a large colony of coelenterates touches another, it immediately contracts, turning into a tiny lump. Immediately all other individuals of the colony repeat the action of the contracted animal.

FISH

Fish use at least three types of communication signals: auditory, visual and chemical, often combining them. Fish make sounds by rattling their gill covers, and using their swim bladders they make grunts and whistles. Sound signals are used to gather in a flock, as an invitation to breed, to defend the territory, and also as a method of recognition. Fish do not have eardrums, and they hear differently from humans. The system of thin bones, the so-called. Weber's apparatus transmits vibrations from the swim bladder to the inner ear. The range of frequencies that fish perceive is relatively narrow - most do not hear sounds above the upper “C” and best perceive sounds below the “A” of the third octave.

Fish have good eyesight, but see poorly in the dark, such as in the depths of the ocean. Most fish perceive color to some degree. This is important during the mating season because the bright colors of individuals of one sex, usually males, attract individuals of the opposite sex. The color changes serve as a warning to other fish not to invade another's territory. During the breeding season, some fish, such as the three-spined stickleback, perform mating dances; others, such as catfish, display threat by turning their mouths wide open towards an intruder.

Fish, like insects and some other animals, use pheromones - chemical signaling substances. Catfish recognize individuals of their species by tasting the substances they secrete, probably produced by the gonads or contained in the urine or mucous cells of the skin. The taste buds of catfish are located in the skin, and any of them can remember the taste of the other’s pheromones if they have ever been close to each other. The next meeting of these fish may end in war or peace, depending on the previously established relationship.

INSECTS

Insects are typically tiny creatures, but their social organization rivals that of human society. Insect communities could never form, much less survive, without communication between their members. Insects communicate using visual cues, sounds, touch and chemical cues, including gustatory stimuli and odors, and are extremely sensitive to sounds and odors.

Insects were perhaps the first on land to make sounds, usually similar to tapping, popping, scratching, etc. These noises are not particularly musical, but they are produced by highly specialized organs. Insect calls are influenced by light intensity, the presence or absence of other insects nearby, and direct contact with them.

One of the most common sounds is stridulation, i.e. a chattering sound caused by rapid vibration or rubbing of one part of the body against another at a certain frequency and in a certain rhythm. This usually happens according to the “scraper-bow” principle. In this case, one leg (or wing) of the insect, which has 80–90 small teeth along the edge, quickly moves back and forth along the thickened part of the wing or other part of the body. Grasshoppers and grasshoppers use just such a chirping mechanism, while grasshoppers and trumpeters rub their modified forewings against each other.

The male cicadas produce the loudest chirping sounds. On the underside of the abdomen of these insects there are two membranous membranes - the so-called. timbal organs. These membranes are equipped with muscles and can bend in and out, like the bottom of a tin. When the tymbal muscles contract rapidly, the pops or clicks merge, creating an almost continuous sound.

Insects can make sounds by banging their heads on wood or leaves and their abdomens and front legs on the ground. Some species, such as the death's-head hawk-moth, have true miniature sound chambers and produce sounds by drawing air in and out through membranes in these chambers.

The vast majority of insects do not have a developed hearing system and use antennas to capture sound vibrations passing through air, soil and other substrates. More subtle discrimination of sound signals is provided by tympanic organs similar to the ear (in moths, locusts, some grasshoppers, cicadas); hair-like sensilla, consisting of vibration-sensitive bristles on the surface of the body; chordotonal (string-shaped) sensilla located in various parts of the body; finally, specialized so-called popliteal organs in the legs that perceive vibration (in grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, bees, stoneflies, ants).

Many insects have two types of eyes—simple ocelli and paired compound eyes—but their vision is generally poor. They can usually only perceive light and dark, but some, such as bees and butterflies, can perceive colors.

Visual signals serve various functions. Some insects use them for courtship and threats. Thus, in fireflies, luminescent flashes of cold yellow-green light, produced with a certain frequency, serve as a means of attracting individuals of the opposite sex. Bees, having discovered a food source, return to the hive and notify other bees about its location and distance through special movements on the surface of the hive (the so-called bee dance).

The constant licking and sniffing of each other by ants indicates the importance of touch as one of the means of organizing these insects into a colony. In the same way, by touching the abdomen of their “cows” (aphids) with their antennae, the ants inform them that they must secrete a drop of “milk”.

Pheromones are used as sexual attractants and stimulants, as well as warning and trace substances by ants, bees, butterflies, including silkworm, cockroaches and many other insects. These substances, usually in the form of odorous gases or liquids, are secreted by special glands located in the mouth or abdomen of the insect. Some sexual attractants (such as those used by moths) are so effective that they can be perceived by individuals of the same species at a concentration of only a few molecules per cubic centimeter of air.

Amphibians and reptiles

Forms of communication between amphibians and reptiles are relatively simple. This is partly due to a poorly developed brain, as well as the fact that these animals lack care for their offspring.

Amphibians.

Among amphibians, only frogs, toads and tree frogs make loud sounds; Of the salamanders, some squeak or whistle quietly, others have vocal folds and emit a quiet bark. The sounds made by amphibians can mean a threat, a warning, a call for reproduction, they can be used as a signal of trouble or as a means of protecting the territory. Some species of frogs croak in groups of three, and a large chorus may consist of several loud-voiced trios.

In the spring, during the breeding season, the throat of many species of frogs and toads becomes brightly colored: it often becomes dark yellow, strewn with black spots, and usually in females its color is brighter than in males. Some species use seasonal throat coloration not only to attract a mate, but also as a visual signal warning that territory is occupied.

Some toads, in defense, emit a highly acidic fluid produced by the parotid glands (one behind each eye). The Colorado toad can spray this poisonous liquid up to 3.6 m away. At least one species of salamander uses a special “love drink” produced during the mating season by special glands located near the head.

Reptiles.

Some snakes hiss, others make cracking noises, and in Africa and Asia there are snakes that chirp using scales. Since snakes and other reptiles do not have external ear openings, they only sense vibrations that pass through the soil. So the rattlesnake is unlikely to hear its own rattle.

Unlike snakes, tropical gecko lizards have external ear openings. Geckos click very loudly and make sharp sounds.

In the spring, male alligators roar to attract females and scare away other males. Crocodiles make loud alarm sounds when they are frightened and hiss loudly, threatening an intruder who has invaded their territory. Baby alligators squeak and croak hoarsely to get their mother's attention. The Galapagos giant or elephant tortoise makes a low, raspy roar, and many other tortoises hiss menacingly.

Many reptiles drive away strangers of their own or other species invading their territory by demonstrating threatening behavior - they open their mouths, inflate body parts (like a spectacled snake), beat their tails, etc. Snakes have relatively poor vision; they see the movement of objects, and not their shape and color; Species that hunt in open places have sharper vision. Some lizards, such as geckos and chameleons, perform ritual dances during courtship or sway in a peculiar way when moving.

The sense of smell and taste is well developed in snakes and lizards; in crocodiles and turtles it is relatively weak. Rhythmically sticking out its tongue, the snake enhances its sense of smell, transferring odorous particles to a special sensory structure - the so-called so-called sensory structure located in the mouth. Jacobson's organ. Some snakes, turtles and alligators secrete musky fluid as warning signals; others use scent as a sexual attractant.

BIRDS

Communication in birds has been better studied than in any other animal. Birds communicate with members of their own species, as well as other species, including mammals and even humans. To do this, they use sound (not only voice), as well as visual signals. Thanks to the developed hearing system, consisting of the outer, middle and inner ear, birds hear well. The vocal apparatus of birds, the so-called. The lower larynx, or syrinx, is located in the lower part of the trachea.

Schooling birds use a more diverse range of sound and visual signals than solitary birds, which sometimes know only one song and repeat it over and over again. Flocking birds have signals that gather a flock, notify about danger, signals “all is calm” and even calls for a meal.

In birds, it is predominantly males who sing, but more often not to attract females (as is usually believed), but to warn that the territory is under protection. Many songs are very intricate and are provoked by the release of the male sex hormone - testosterone - in the spring. Most of the “conversations” in birds take place between the mother and the chicks, who beg for food, and the mother feeds, warns or calms them.

Bird song is shaped by both genes and learning. The song of a bird raised in isolation is incomplete, i.e. deprived of individual “phrases” sung by other birds.

A non-vocal sound signal, the wing drum, is used by the collared grouse during mating to attract a female and warn male competitors to stay away. One of the tropical manakins clicks its tail feathers like castanets during courtship. At least one bird, the African honeyguide, communicates directly with humans. The honey guide feeds on beeswax, but cannot extract it from hollow trees where bees make their nests. By repeatedly approaching the person, calling loudly and then heading towards the tree with the bees, the honey guide leads the person to their nest; after the honey is taken, it eats the remaining wax.

During the breeding season, males of many bird species adopt complex signaling postures, preen their feathers, perform courtship dances, and perform various other actions accompanied by sound signals. The head and tail feathers, crowns and crests, even the apron-like arrangement of breast feathers are used by males to demonstrate their readiness to mate. The mandatory love ritual of the wandering albatross is a complex mating dance performed jointly by the male and female.

TERRESTRIAL MAMMALS

It has long been known that land mammals make mating calls and threat sounds, leave scent marks, sniff and gently caress each other. However, compared to what we know about the communication of birds, bees and some other animals, information about the communication of land mammals is rather scarce.

In the communication of terrestrial mammals, quite a lot of space is occupied by information about emotional states - fear, anger, pleasure, hunger and pain. However, this far from exhausts the content of communications even in non-primate animals. Animals wandering in groups, through visual signals, maintain the integrity of the group and warn each other about danger; bears within their territory peel off the bark on tree trunks or rub against them, thus informing about their body size and gender; skunks and a number of other animals secrete odorous substances for protection or as sexual attractants; male deer organize ritual tournaments to attract females during the rutting season; wolves express their attitude by aggressive growling or friendly tail wagging; seals in rookeries communicate using calls and special movements; angry bear coughs threateningly.

Mammalian communication signals were developed for communication between individuals of the same species, but often these signals are also perceived by individuals of other species that are nearby. In Africa, the same spring is sometimes used for watering at the same time by different animals, such as wildebeest, zebra and waterbuck. If a zebra, with its keen sense of hearing and smell, senses the approach of a lion or other predator, its actions inform its neighbors at the watering hole, and they react accordingly. In this case, interspecific communication takes place.

Man uses his voice to communicate to an immeasurably greater extent than any other primate. For greater expressiveness, words are accompanied by gestures and facial expressions. Other primates use signal postures and movements in communication much more often than we do, and use their voice much less often. These components of primate communication behavior are not innate; animals learn different ways of communicating as they grow older.

Chemical signals.

Chemical signals are most often used by primates that are potential prey and occupy a limited territory. The sense of smell is of particular importance for tree-dwelling primitive nocturnal primates (prosimians), such as tupai and lemurs. Tupai mark territory using secretions from glands located in the skin of the throat and chest. In some lemurs such glands are located in the armpits and even on the forearms; As the animal moves, it leaves its scent on the plants. Other lemurs use urine and feces for this purpose.

Great apes, like humans, do not have a developed olfactory system. In addition, only a few of them have skin glands specifically designed to produce signaling substances.

Tactile signals.

Touch and other bodily contact - tactile signals - are widely used by monkeys when communicating. Langurs, baboons, gibbons and chimpanzees often hug each other in a friendly manner, and a baboon may lightly touch, poke, pinch, bite, sniff or even kiss another baboon as a sign of genuine affection. When two chimpanzees meet for the first time, they may gently touch the stranger's head, shoulder or thigh.

Monkeys constantly pick through their fur - cleaning each other (this behavior is called grooming), which serves as a manifestation of true closeness and intimacy. Grooming is especially important in primate groups where social dominance is maintained, such as rhesus monkeys, baboons and gorillas. In such groups, a subordinate individual often communicates, by loudly smacking her lips, that she wants to groom another who occupies a higher position in the social hierarchy.

Sounds made by apes and great apes, are relatively simple. For example, chimpanzees often scream and squeal when they are scared or angry, and these are truly basic signals. However, they also have an amazing noise ritual: periodically they gather in the forest and drum their hands on the protruding roots of trees, accompanying these actions with screams, squeals and howls. This drumming and singing festival can last for hours and can be heard from at least a kilometer and a half away. There is reason to believe that in this way chimpanzees call their fellows to places abounding in food.

Visual signals.

Gestures, facial expressions, and sometimes also body position and muzzle color are the main visual signals of great apes. Among the threatening signals are sudden jumping to your feet and pulling your head into your shoulders, striking the ground with your hands, violently shaking trees and randomly throwing stones. By displaying the bright color of its muzzle, the African mandrill tames its subordinates. In a similar situation, the proboscis monkey from Borneo shows off its huge nose.

Staring in a baboon or gorilla means a threat. In the baboon, it is accompanied by frequent blinking, movement of the head up and down, flattening of the ears and arching of the eyebrows. To maintain order in the group, dominant baboons and gorillas now and then cast icy gazes at females, cubs and subordinate males. When two unfamiliar gorillas suddenly come face to face, staring can be a challenge. First, a roar is heard, two powerful animals retreat, and then suddenly approach each other, bending their heads forward. Stopping just before they touch, they begin to gaze intently into each other's eyes until one of them retreats. Real contractions are rare.

Chimpanzees use rich facial expressions to communicate. For example, a tightly clenched jaw with exposed gums means a threat; frown - intimidation; a smile, especially with the tongue hanging out, is friendliness; pulling back the lower lip until teeth and gums show - a peaceful smile; by pouting her lips, the mother chimpanzee expresses her love for her baby; Repeated yawning indicates confusion or difficulty. Chimpanzees often yawn when they notice someone is watching them.

Sound signals.

Interspecific communication is widespread among primates. Langurs, for example, closely monitor the alarm calls and movements of peacocks and deer. Grazing animals and baboons respond to each other's warning calls, so predators have little chance of surprise attacks.

AQUATIC MAMMALS

Sounds are like signals.

Aquatic mammals , like land animals, they have ears consisting of an external opening, a middle ear with three auditory ossicles and an inner ear connected by the auditory nerve to the brain. Marine mammals have excellent hearing, which is also helped by the high sound conductivity of water.

Seals are among the noisiest aquatic mammals. During the breeding season, females and young seals howl and moo, and these sounds are often drowned out by the barks and roars of males. Males roar primarily to mark territory, in which they each gather a harem of 10–100 females. Vocal communication in females is not so intense and is associated primarily with mating and caring for offspring.

Whales constantly make sounds such as clicking, creaking, low-pitched sighs, as well as something like the creaking of rusty hinges and muffled thuds. It is believed that many of these sounds are nothing more than echolocation, used to detect food and navigate underwater. They can also be a means of maintaining group integrity.

Among aquatic mammals, the undisputed champion in emitting sound signals is the bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus). The sounds made by dolphins have been described as moaning, squeaking, whining, whistling, barking, squealing, meowing, creaking, clicking, chirping, grunting, shrill screams, as well as being reminiscent of the noise of a motor boat, the creaking of rusty hinges, etc. These sounds consist of a continuous series of vibrations at frequencies ranging from 3,000 to more than 200,000 hertz. They are produced by blowing air through the nasal passage and two valve-like structures inside the blowhole. Sounds are modified by increasing and decreasing tension in the nasal valves and by the movement of "reeds" or "plugs" located within the airways and blowhole. The sound produced by dolphins, similar to the creaking of rusty hinges, is “sonar,” a kind of echolocation mechanism. By constantly sending these sounds and receiving their reflections from underwater rocks, fish and other objects, dolphins can easily move even in complete darkness and find fish.

Dolphins undoubtedly communicate with each other. When a dolphin makes a short, sad whistle, followed by a high-pitched, melodious whistle, it is a distress signal, and other dolphins will immediately swim to the rescue. The cub always responds to the mother's whistle addressed to him. When angry, dolphins "bark" and the yapping sound, made only by males, is believed to attract females.

Visual signals.

Visual signals are not essential in the communication of aquatic mammals. In general, their vision is not sharp and is also hampered by the low transparency of ocean water. One example of visual communication worth mentioning is that the hooded seal has an inflating muscular pouch above its head and snout. When threatened, the seal quickly inflates the pouch, which turns bright red. This is accompanied by a deafening roar, and the trespasser (if it is not a person) usually retreats.

Olfactory and tactile signals.

Olfactory signals probably do not play a major role in the communication of aquatic mammals, serving only for mutual recognition of parents and young in those species that spend a significant part of their lives on rookeries, for example, seals. Whales and dolphins appear to have a keen sense of taste, which helps them determine whether a fish they catch is worth eating.

In aquatic mammals, tactile organs are distributed throughout the skin, and the sense of touch, especially important during periods of courtship and caring for offspring, is well developed. So, during the mating season, a pair of sea lions often sits facing each other, intertwining their necks and caressing each other for hours.

STUDY METHODS

Ideally, animal communication should be studied in natural conditions, but for many species (especially mammals) this is difficult to do due to the secretive nature of animals and their constant movements. In addition, many animals behave night look life. Birds are often frightened by the slightest movement or even just the sight of a person, as well as the warning calls and actions of other birds. Laboratory studies of animal behavior provide much new information, but in captivity animals behave differently than in freedom. They even develop neuroses and often stop reproductive behavior.

Any scientific problem usually requires the use of observational and experimental methods. Both are best done under controlled laboratory conditions. However, laboratory conditions are not entirely suitable for studying communication, since they limit the freedom of action and reaction of the animal.

In field studies, cover made from bushes and branches is used to observe some mammals and birds. A person in a shelter can cover up his scent with a few drops of skunk fluid or other strong-smelling substance.

Photographing animals requires good cameras and especially telephoto lenses. However, the noise made by the camera may scare the animal away. To study sound signals, a sensitive microphone and sound recording equipment are used, as well as a disc-shaped parabolic reflector made of metal or plastic, which focuses sound waves on a microphone placed at its center. After recording, sounds that the human ear cannot hear can be detected. Some sounds made by animals are in the ultrasonic range; they can be heard when the tape is played at a slower speed than when recording. This is especially useful when studying the sounds made by birds.

Using a sound spectrograph, a graphic recording of sound, a “voice print,” is obtained. By “dissecting” a sound spectrogram, one can identify various components of a bird’s call or the sounds of other animals, compare mating calls, calls for food, threatening or warning sounds, and other signals.

In laboratory conditions, the behavior of fish and insects is studied mainly, although a lot of information has been obtained about mammals and other animals. Dolphins quickly get used to open laboratories - swimming pools, dolphinariums, etc. Laboratory computers “remember” the sounds of insects, fish, dolphins and other animals and make it possible to identify stereotypes of communicative behavior.

If a person learned to communicate with animals, it would bring a lot of benefits. For example, we could obtain from dolphins and whales information about the life of the sea that is inaccessible, or at least difficult to obtain, by humans. By studying the communication systems of animals, humans will be able to better imitate the visual and auditory signals of birds and mammals. Such imitation has already brought benefits, making it possible to attract the studied animals in their natural habitats, as well as to repel pests. Taped alarm calls are played through loudspeakers to scare off starlings, gulls, crows, rooks and other birds that damage plantings and crops, and synthesized insect sex attractants are used to lure insects into traps. Studies of the structure of the “ear” located on the front legs of the grasshopper have made it possible to improve the design of the microphone.

Literature:

Lilly J. Man and dolphin. M., 1965
Chauvin R. From bee to gorilla. M., 1965
Goodall J. Chimpanzees in nature: behavior. M., 1992

Human tongue

The main communicative activity is language, speech. According to many researchers, speech is one of the types of communicative activities carried out in the form of linguistic communication. Every person uses his native language to express his thoughts and understand the thoughts expressed by others. The child not only assimilates words and grammatical forms of the language, but also relates them to the content that constitutes the meaning of the word assigned to it in his native language by the entire process of the history of the development of the people. However, at each stage of development, the child understands the content of the word differently. He masters the word, along with its inherent meaning, very early. The concept denoted by this word, being a generalized image of reality, grows, expands and deepens as the child develops.

In contrast to perception - the process of direct reflection of things - speech is a form of indirect cognition of reality, its reflection through the native language. If the language is the same for the entire people, then the speech of each person is individual. Therefore, speech, on the one hand, is poorer than language, since a person in the practice of communication usually uses only a small part of the vocabulary and various grammatical structures of his native language. On the other hand, speech is richer than language, since a person, speaking about something, expresses his attitude both to what he is talking about and to the person with whom he is speaking. His speech acquires intonation expressiveness, its rhythm, tempo, and character change. Therefore, a person, when communicating with other people, can say more than the words he used mean (the subtext of speech). But in order for a person to be able to accurately and subtly convey thoughts to another person, and in such a way as to influence him and be correctly understood, he must have an excellent command of his native language.
The development of speech is the process of mastering one’s native language, the ability to use it as a means of understanding the world around us, assimilating the experience accumulated by humanity, as a means of knowing oneself and self-regulation, as a means of communication and interaction between people.
Psychology studies the development of speech in ontogenesis.
The physiological basis of speech is the activity of the second signaling system. The doctrine of the second signal system is the doctrine of the word as a signal. Studying the patterns of reflex activity of animals and humans, I.P. Pavlov singled out the word as a special signal. The peculiarity of the word is its generalizing nature, which significantly changes both the effect of the stimulus itself and the person’s responses. Studying the meaning of a word in the formation of neural connections is the task of physiologists, who have shown the generalizing role of the word, the speed and strength of connections formed to a stimulus, and the possibility of their wide and easy transfer.

Functions of speech. In human mental life, speech performs a number of functions. First of all, it is a means of communication (communicative function), i.e., transfer of information, and acts as an external speech behavior aimed at contacts with other people. There are three aspects to the communicative function of speech: 1) informational, which manifests itself in the transfer of social experience and knowledge; 2) expressive, helping to convey the speaker’s feelings and attitudes towards the subject of the message; 3) volitional, aimed at subordinating the listener to the speaker’s intention. Being a means of communication, speech also serves as a means of influencing some people on others (instructions, orders, persuasion).

Speech also performs the function of generalization and abstraction. This function is due to the fact that a word denotes not only a separate, specific object, but also a whole group of similar objects and is always the bearer of their essential characteristics. By summarizing a perceived phenomenon in a word, we simultaneously abstract from a number of specific features. So, when pronouncing the word “dog”, we abstract from all the features appearance shepherds, poodles, bulldogs, Dobermans and we consolidate in the word what is common to them.

All of these functions are closely intertwined in a single flow of speech communication.

Language and speech are specific forms of reflection of reality: reflecting, speech denotes objects and phenomena. What is absent in people's experience cannot be in their language and speech.

Types of speech. The word as a stimulus exists in three forms: audible, visible and spoken. Depending on this, two forms of speech are distinguished - external (loud) and internal (hidden) speech (thinking).
External speech includes several psychologically unique types of speech: oral, or conversational (monologue and dialogic), and written, which a person masters by mastering literacy - reading and writing.

It is also customary to distinguish between passive (understood) speech - listening and active (spoken) speech. As a rule, passive speech in both children and adults is much richer than active speech.

The most ancient type of speech is oral dialogic speech. Dialogue is direct communication between two or more people, which takes place in the form of a conversation or exchange of remarks about current events. Dialogical speech is the most simple form speech, firstly, because it is supported speech: the interlocutor can ask clarifying questions, gives cues, helps to finish the thought. Secondly, the dialogue is conducted during the emotional-expressive contact of the speakers in the conditions of their mutual perception, when they can also influence each other with gestures, facial expressions, timbre and intonation of the voice.

Monologue speech is a long presentation of a system of thoughts and knowledge by one person. This is always coherent, contextual speech that meets the requirements of consistency, evidence of presentation and grammatically correct construction of sentences. The forms of monologue speech are report, lecture, speech, story. A monologue speech necessarily involves contact with the audience, and therefore requires careful preparation. Written speech is a type of monologue speech, but it is even more extensive than oral monologue speech. This is due to the fact that written speech does not involve feedback from the interlocutor and does not have any additional means of influencing him, except for the words themselves, their order and punctuation marks that organize the sentence. Mastery of written speech develops completely new psychophysiological mechanisms of speech. Written speech is perceived by the eye and produced by the hand, while oral speech functions thanks to auditory-kinesthetic nerve connections. A unified style of human speech activity is achieved on the basis complex systems interanalyzer connections in the cortex cerebral hemispheres brain, coordinated by the activity of the second signaling system.

Written speech opens up boundless horizons for a person to become familiar with world culture and is a necessary element in a person’s education.

Inner speech is not a means of communication. This special kind speech activity, formed on the basis of external. In inner speech, a thought is formed and exists; it acts as a phase of activity planning. Inner speech is characterized by some features:
it exists as a kinesthetic, auditory or visual image of a word;
it is characterized by fragmentation, fragmentation, situationality;
inner speech is collapsed: most of the members of the sentence are omitted, leaving only words that define the essence of the thought. Figuratively speaking, she wears a “telegraph style”;

The structure of the word also changes in it: in the words of the Russian language, vowel sounds are dropped as they carry less semantic load;
she is silent.

In children preschool age noted peculiar look speech – egocentric speech. This is the child’s speech addressed to himself, which is the transition of external spoken speech into internal. This transition occurs in a child under conditions problematic activities when there is a need to comprehend the action being performed and direct it towards achieving a practical goal. Human speech has many paralinguistic features: intonation, volume, tempo, pause and other characteristics that reflect a person’s attitude to what he is saying, his emotional state at the moment. Paralinguistic components of speech also include bodily movements that accompany a speech utterance: gestures, facial expressions, pantomime, as well as features of a person’s handwriting.

conclusions

Speech like any other mental process, is impossible without the active participation of the first signaling system. Being, as in thinking, leading and determining, the second signaling system works in close interaction with the first. Violation of this interaction leads to the disintegration of both thinking and speech - it turns into a meaningless stream of words.

Since speech is also a means of designation, it performs a significative (symbolic) function. If a word did not have a denoting function, it could not be understood by other people, that is, speech would lose its communicative function and would cease to be speech. Mutual understanding in the process of communication is based on the unity of designation of objects and phenomena by the perceiver and the speaker. The significative function distinguishes human speech from animal communication.

The speech of people from different cultures varies, even among those who speak the same language. Having listened to a stranger for a certain time, even without seeing him in person, you can judge what his general level is. intellectual development and its general culture. It is obvious that people belonging to different social groups, speak differently, and therefore speech can also be used to determine a person’s social origin and social affiliation.

Animal communication methods

In most groups of animals, all sense organs are present and function simultaneously. However, depending on their anatomical structure and lifestyle, the functional role of different systems turns out to be different. Sensory systems complement each other well and provide complete information to a living organism about environmental factors. At the same time, in the event of a complete or partial failure of one or even several of them, the remaining systems strengthen and expand their functions, thereby compensating for the lack of information. For example, blind and deaf animals are able to navigate their environment using their sense of smell and touch. It is well known that deaf and mute people easily learn to understand the speech of their interlocutor by the movement of his lips, and blind people - to read using their fingers.
Depending on the degree of development of certain sense organs in animals, different methods of communication can be used when communicating. Thus, in the interactions of many invertebrates, as well as some vertebrates that lack eyes, tactile communication.

Fish use at least three types of communication signals: auditory, visual and chemical, often combining them.
Although amphibians and reptiles have all the sensory organs characteristic of vertebrates, their forms of communication are relatively simple.
Bird communications reach a high level of development, which is found in literally a few species. When communicating with individuals of their own, as well as other species, including mammals and even humans, birds use mainly audio as well as visual signals. Thanks to the good development of the auditory and vocal apparatus, birds have excellent hearing and are able to produce many different sounds. Schooling birds use a greater variety of sound and visual signals than solitary birds. They have signals that gather the flock, notify about danger, signals “everything is calm” and even calls for a meal.

In the communication of terrestrial mammals, quite a lot of space is occupied by information about emotional states - fear, anger, pleasure, hunger and pain.

· However, this far from exhausts the content of communications - even in non-primate animals.

o Animals wandering in groups use visual signals to maintain the integrity of the group and warn each other about danger;

o bears, within their territory, peel off the bark on tree trunks or rub against them, thus informing about the size of their body and gender;

o Skunks and a number of other animals secrete odorous substances for protection;

o male deer organize ritual tournaments to attract females during the rutting season; wolves express their attitude by aggressive growling or friendly tail wagging;

o seals in rookeries communicate using calls and special movements;

o an angry bear coughs threateningly.

Communicative signals can be perceived by animals at a fairly large distance, but olfactory signals turn out to be quite informative and in the absence of other individuals in the field of vision or hearing, visual signals can act only at a relatively short distance. A key role in visual communication is played by postures and body movements, with the help of which animals communicate their intentions. In many cases, such poses are complemented by sound signals. At a relatively large distance, alarm signals can act in the form of flashing white spots: the tail or spot on the back of deer, the tails of rabbits, upon seeing which, representatives of the same species rush to flight, without even seeing the source of danger itself. Communication using visual signals is especially characteristic of vertebrates, cephalopods and insects, i.e. for animals with well-developed eyes. It is interesting to note that color vision is almost universal among all groups except most mammals. The bright, multicolored coloring of some fish, reptiles and birds contrasts strikingly with the universal gray, black and brown coloring of most mammals. Many arthropods have well-developed color vision, but nevertheless visual signaling is not very common among them, although color signals are used in courtship displays, for example in butterflies or beckoning crabs.
In vertebrates, visual communication plays a particularly important role in the process of communication between individuals. In almost all of their groups there are many ritualized movements, postures and entire complexes of fixed actions that play the role of key stimuli for the implementation of many forms of instinctive behavior.
Vision plays a significant role in the communication of crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans. The brightly colored claws of male crabs attract females while warning rival males to keep their distance. Some species of crabs perform a mating dance, in which they swing their large claws in a rhythm characteristic of that species. Many deep-sea marine invertebrates, such as the sea worm Odontosyllis, have rhythmically flashing luminous organs called photophores.

Acoustic communication in its capabilities occupies an intermediate position between optical and chemical. Like visual signals, sounds made by animals are a means of transmitting emergency information. Their action is limited to the time of the current activity of the animal transmitting the message. Apparently, it is no coincidence that in many cases expressive movements in animals are accompanied by corresponding sounds. But, unlike visual ones, acoustic signals can be transmitted at a distance in the absence of visual or tactile contact between partners. Acoustic signals, like chemical ones, can operate over long distances or in complete darkness. But at the same time, they are the antipode of chemical signals, since they do not have a long-term effect. Thus, the sound signals of animals are a means of emergency communication for transmitting messages both in the case of direct visual and tactile contact between partners, and in its absence. The transmission range of acoustic information is determined by four main factors: 1) sound intensity; 2) signal frequency; 3) acoustic properties of the environment, through which the message is transmitted and 4) animal hearing thresholds, receiving the signal. Sound signals transmitted over long distances are known in insects, amphibians, birds, and many species of medium- and large-sized mammals.
Insects, perhaps the first on land, began to make sounds, usually similar to tapping, popping, scratching, etc. These noises are not particularly musical, but they are produced by highly specialized organs. Insect calls are influenced by light intensity, the presence or absence of other insects nearby, and direct contact with them.
One of the most common sounds is stridulation, i.e. a chattering sound caused by rapid vibration or rubbing of one part of the body against another at a certain frequency and in a certain rhythm. This usually happens according to the “scraper-bow” principle. In this case, one leg (or wing) of the insect, which has 80-90 small teeth along the edge, quickly moves back and forth along the thickened part of the wing or other part of the body. Grasshoppers and grasshoppers use just such a chirping mechanism, while grasshoppers and trumpeters rub their modified forewings against each other.

Many insects, especially flies, mosquitoes and bees, make sounds in flight by vibrating their wings; some of these sounds are used in communication. Queen bees chatter and buzz: the adult queen hums, and the immature queens chatter as they try to escape from their cells.
The statement “silent as a fish” was refuted by scientists a long time ago. Fish make many sounds by beating their gill covers and using their swim bladder. Each species makes special sounds. For example, gurnard“clucks” and “clucks”, horse mackerel “barks”, the drummer fish from the croaker breed makes noisy sounds that really resemble a drumbeat, and the sea burbot purrs and “grunts” expressively. The sound power of some sea fish is so great that they caused explosions of acoustic mines, which became widespread in the Second World War and were naturally intended to destroy enemy ships. Sound signals are used to gather in a flock, as an invitation to breed, to protect territory, and also as a method of individual recognition. Fish do not have eardrums, and they hear differently from humans. A system of thin bones transmits vibrations from the swim bladder to the inner ear. The range of frequencies that fish perceive is relatively narrow - most do not hear sounds above the upper “C” and best perceive sounds below the “A” of the third octave.
Among amphibians, only frogs, toads and tree frogs make loud sounds; Of the salamanders, some squeak or whistle quietly, others have vocal folds and emit a quiet bark. The sounds made by amphibians can mean a threat, a warning, a call for reproduction, they can be used as a signal of trouble or as a means of protecting the territory. Some species of frogs croak in groups of three, and a large chorus may consist of several loud-voiced trios.
Some snakes hiss, others make cracking noises, and in Africa and Asia there are snakes that chirp using scales. Since snakes and other reptiles do not have external ear openings, they only sense vibrations that pass through the soil. So the rattlesnake is unlikely to hear its own rattle.
Unlike snakes, tropical gecko lizards have external ear openings. Geckos click very loudly and make sharp sounds.
In the spring, male alligators roar to attract females and scare away other males. Crocodiles make loud alarm sounds when they are frightened and hiss loudly, threatening an intruder who has invaded their territory. Baby alligators squeak and croak hoarsely to get their mother's attention. The Galapagos giant or elephant tortoise makes a low, raspy roar, and many other tortoises hiss threateningly.

The sounds made by dolphins have been described as moaning, squeaking, whining, whistling, barking, squealing, meowing, creaking, clicking, chirping, grunting, shrill screams, as well as being reminiscent of the noise of a motor boat, the creaking of rusty hinges, etc. These sounds consist of a continuous series of vibrations at frequencies ranging from 3,000 to more than 200,000 Hertz. They are produced by blowing air through the nasal passage and two valve-like structures inside the blowhole. Sounds are modified by increasing and decreasing tension in the nasal valves and by the movement of "reeds" or "plugs" located inside the airways and blowhole. The sound produced by dolphins, similar to the creaking of rusty hinges, is “sonar,” a kind of echolocation mechanism. By constantly sending these sounds and receiving their reflections from underwater rocks, fish and other objects, dolphins can easily move even in complete darkness and find fish.

Dolphins certainly communicate with each other. When a dolphin makes a short, sad whistle, followed by a high-pitched, melodious whistle, it is a distress signal, and other dolphins will immediately swim to the rescue. The cub always responds to the mother's whistle addressed to him. When angry, dolphins "bark" and the yapping sound, made only by males, is believed to attract females.

conclusions

Mammalian communication signals were developed for communication between individuals of the same species, but often these signals are also perceived by individuals of other species that are nearby. This information is obtained through systems and means of communication. Animals receive communication signals and other information about the outside world through the physical senses of sight, hearing and touch, and the chemical senses of smell and taste.
The propagation of sound is a wave process. The sound source transmits vibrations to particles environment, and they, in turn, to neighboring particles, thus creating a series of alternating compressions and rarefaction with an increase and decrease in air pressure. These particle movements are graphically depicted as a sequence of waves, the peaks of which correspond to compression, and the troughs between them correspond to rarefaction. The speed of movement of these waves in a given medium is the speed of sound. The number of waves passing per second through any point in space is called the frequency of sound vibrations. The ear of a particular species of animal perceives sound only in a limited range of frequencies, or wavelengths. Waves with a frequency below 20 Hz are not perceived as sounds, but are felt as vibrations. At the same time, vibrations with a frequency above 20,000 Hz (so-called ultrasonic) are also inaccessible to the human ear, but are perceived by the ears of a number of animals. Another characteristic of sound waves is the intensity, or loudness, of the sound, which is determined by the distance from the peak or trough of the wave to the midline. Intensity also serves as a measure of sound energy.