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Wu B, Zhang H, Zhang M. Phylogenetic insight into the origin of tones. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230606. [PMID: 37403498 PMCID: PMC10320342 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The origin of tone, also known as tonogenesis, has long been a topic of great interest in language evolution and human cognition studies. Several linguistic studies of tonal languages have proposed various hypotheses that tonal origin may be related to different changes of phonological structures. However, such hypotheses have not been quantitatively tested in an evolutionary framework. Here, we conducted phylogenetic comparative analyses to assess the likelihood of different hypotheses of tonogenetic mechanisms across 106 Sino-Tibetan languages, of which approximately 70% are tonal. Our results showed that the presence of tones has a strong phylogenetic pattern and that Proto-Sino-Tibetan languages were most likely non-tonal. Our findings identified that tonal origin was strongly associated with the evolution of specific phonological structures, such as the loss of syllable-final consonants and voice quality on vowels. Furthermore, we found that tonal origin probably did not influence the diversification rates of Sino-Tibetan languages. These findings enabled us to better understand that tone arose as a compensatory mechanism for the structural organization and evolution of languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baihui Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Center for Evolutionary Biology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China
| | - Hanzhi Zhang
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - Menghan Zhang
- Institute of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China
- Research Institute of Intelligent Complex Systems, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China
- Human Phenome Institute and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China
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2
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Takahashi T, Ihara Y. Spatial evolution of human cultures inferred through Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20220543. [PMID: 36596455 PMCID: PMC9810426 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Spatial distribution of human culture reflects both descent from the common ancestor and horizontal transmission among neighbouring populations. To analyse empirically documented geographical variations in cultural repertoire, we will describe a framework for Bayesian statistics in a spatially explicit model. To consider both horizontal transmission and mutation of the cultural trait in question, our method employs a network model in which populations are represented by nodes. Using algorithms borrowed from Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, we will perform a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to compute the posterior distributions of parameters, such as the rate of horizontal transmission and the mutation rates among trait variants, as well as the identity of trait variants in unobserved populations. Besides the inference of model parameters, our method enables the reconstruction of the genealogical tree of the focal trait, provided that the mutation rate is sufficiently small. We will also describe a heuristic algorithm to reduce the dimension of the parameter space explored in the MCMC method, where we simulate the coalescent process in the network of populations. Numerical examples show that our algorithms compute the posterior distribution of model parameters within a practical computation time, although the posterior distribution tends to be broad if we use uninformative priors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takuya Takahashi
- Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences (MIMS), Meiji University, Nakano 4-21-1, Nakanoku, Tokyo 164-8525, Japan
| | - Yasuo Ihara
- Department of Biological Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyoku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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3
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Jamy M, Biwer C, Vaulot D, Obiol A, Jing H, Peura S, Massana R, Burki F. Global patterns and rates of habitat transitions across the eukaryotic tree of life. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1458-1470. [PMID: 35927316 PMCID: PMC9525238 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01838-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The successful colonization of new habitats has played a fundamental role during the evolution of life. Salinity is one of the strongest barriers for organisms to cross, which has resulted in the evolution of distinct marine and non-marine (including both freshwater and soil) communities. Although microbes represent by far the vast majority of eukaryote diversity, the role of the salt barrier in shaping the diversity across the eukaryotic tree is poorly known. Traditional views suggest rare and ancient marine/non-marine transitions but this view is being challenged by the discovery of several recently transitioned lineages. Here, we investigate habitat evolution across the tree of eukaryotes using a unique set of taxon-rich phylogenies inferred from a combination of long-read and short-read environmental metabarcoding data spanning the ribosomal DNA operon. Our results show that, overall, marine and non-marine microbial communities are phylogenetically distinct but transitions have occurred in both directions in almost all major eukaryotic lineages, with hundreds of transition events detected. Some groups have experienced relatively high rates of transitions, most notably fungi for which crossing the salt barrier has probably been an important aspect of their successful diversification. At the deepest phylogenetic levels, ancestral habitat reconstruction analyses suggest that eukaryotes may have first evolved in non-marine habitats and that the two largest known eukaryotic assemblages (TSAR and Amorphea) arose in different habitats. Overall, our findings indicate that the salt barrier has played an important role during eukaryote evolution and provide a global perspective on habitat transitions in this domain of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahwash Jamy
- Department of Organismal Biology (Systematic Biology), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Charlie Biwer
- Department of Organismal Biology (Systematic Biology), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Daniel Vaulot
- CNRS, UMR7144, Team ECOMAP, Station Biologique, Sorbonne Université, Roscoff, France
| | - Aleix Obiol
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Hongmei Jing
- CAS Key Lab for Experimental Study Under Deep-sea Extreme Conditions, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China
| | - Sari Peura
- Department of Ecology and Genetics (Limnology), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ramon Massana
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Fabien Burki
- Department of Organismal Biology (Systematic Biology), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
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4
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Jackson JC, Watts J, List JM, Puryear C, Drabble R, Lindquist KA. From Text to Thought: How Analyzing Language Can Advance Psychological Science. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021; 17:805-826. [PMID: 34606730 PMCID: PMC9069665 DOI: 10.1177/17456916211004899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Humans have been using language for millennia but have only just begun to scratch the surface of what natural language can reveal about the mind. Here we propose that language offers a unique window into psychology. After briefly summarizing the legacy of language analyses in psychological science, we show how methodological advances have made these analyses more feasible and insightful than ever before. In particular, we describe how two forms of language analysis—natural-language processing and comparative linguistics—are contributing to how we understand topics as diverse as emotion, creativity, and religion and overcoming obstacles related to statistical power and culturally diverse samples. We summarize resources for learning both of these methods and highlight the best way to combine language analysis with more traditional psychological paradigms. Applying language analysis to large-scale and cross-cultural datasets promises to provide major breakthroughs in psychological science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Conrad Jackson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Joseph Watts
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.,Center for Research on Evolution, Belief, and Behaviour, University of Otago.,Religion Programme, University of Otago
| | - Johann-Mattis List
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
| | - Curtis Puryear
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Ryan Drabble
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Kristen A Lindquist
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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5
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6
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Calude AS. The history of number words in the world's languages-what have we learnt so far? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200206. [PMID: 33745311 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
For over 100 years, researchers from various disciplines have been enthralled and occupied by the study of number words. This article discusses implications for the study of deep history and human evolution that arise from this body of work. Phylogenetic modelling shows that low-limit number words are preserved across thousands of years, a pattern consistently observed in several language families. Cross-linguistic frequencies of use and experimental studies also point to widespread homogeneity in the use of number words. Yet linguistic typology and field documentation reports caution against positing a privileged linguistic category for number words, showing a wealth of variation in how number words are encoded across the world. In contrast with low-limit numbers, the higher numbers are characterized by a rapid and morphologically consistent pattern of expansion, and behave like grammatical phrasal units, following language-internal rules. Taken together, the evidence suggests that numbers are at the cross-roads of language history. For languages that do have productive and consistent number systems, numerals one to five are among the most reliable available linguistic fossils of deep history, defying change yet still bearing the marks of the past, while higher numbers emerge as innovative tools looking to the future, derived using language-internal patterns and created to meet the needs of modern speakers. This article is part of the theme issue 'Reconstructing prehistoric languages'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreea S Calude
- School of General and Applied Linguistics, University of Waikato, Knighton Road, Hilcrest, 3216, Hamilton, New Zealand
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7
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Trye D, Calude AS, Bravo-Marquez F, Keegan TT. Hybrid Hashtags: #YouKnowYoureAKiwiWhen Your Tweet Contains Māori and English. Front Artif Intell 2021; 3:15. [PMID: 33733134 PMCID: PMC7861263 DOI: 10.3389/frai.2020.00015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Twitter constitutes a rich resource for investigating language contact phenomena. In this paper, we report findings from the analysis of a large-scale diachronic corpus of over one million tweets, containing loanwords from te reo Māori, the indigenous language spoken in New Zealand, into (primarily, New Zealand) English. Our analysis focuses on hashtags comprising mixed-language resources (which we term hybrid hashtags), bringing together descriptive linguistic tools (investigating length, word class, and semantic domains of the hashtags) and quantitative methods (Random Forests and regression analysis). Our work has implications for language change and the study of loanwords (we argue that hybrid hashtags can be linked to loanword entrenchment), and for the study of language on social media (we challenge proposals of hashtags as “words,” and show that hashtags have a dual discourse role: a micro-function within the immediate linguistic context in which they occur and a macro-function within the tweet as a whole).
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Affiliation(s)
- David Trye
- Department of Computer Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Andreea S Calude
- School of General and Applied Linguistics, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | | | - Te Taka Keegan
- Department of Computer Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
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8
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Takahashi T, Ihara Y. Quantifying the spatial pattern of dialect words spreading from a central population. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20200335. [PMID: 32634364 PMCID: PMC7423420 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Some dialect words are shared among geographically distant groups of people without close interaction. Such a pattern may indicate the current or past presence of a cultural centre exerting a strong influence on peripheries. For example, concentric distributions of dialect variants in Japan may be explicable by repeated inventions of new variants at Kyoto, the ancient capital, with subsequent outward diffusion. Here we develop a model of linguistic diffusion within a population network to quantify the distribution of variants created at the central population. Equilibrium distributions of word ages are obtained for idealized networks and for a realistic network of Japanese prefectures. Our model successfully replicates the observed pattern, supporting the notion that a centre–periphery social structure underlies the emergence of concentric patterns. Unlike what has previously been claimed, our model indicates that a novelty bias in linguistic transmission is not always necessary to account for the concentric pattern, whereas some bias in the direction of transmission between populations is needed to be consistent with the observed absence of old words near the central population. Our analysis on the realistic network also suggests that the process of linguistic transmission was not much affected by between-prefecture differences in population size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takuya Takahashi
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyoku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Yasuo Ihara
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyoku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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9
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Rácz P, Passmore S, Sheard C, Jordan FM. Usage frequency and lexical class determine the evolution of kinship terms in Indo-European. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:191385. [PMID: 31824734 PMCID: PMC6837234 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 09/23/2019] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Languages do not replace their vocabularies at an even rate: words endure longer if they are used more frequently. This effect, which has parallels in evolutionary biology, has been demonstrated for the core vocabulary, a set of common, unrelated meanings. The extent to which it replicates in closed lexical classes remains to be seen, and may indicate how general this effect is in language change. Here, we use phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate the history of 10 kinship categories, a type of closed lexical class of content words, across 47 Indo-European languages. We find that their rate of replacement is correlated with their usage frequency, and this relationship is stronger than in the case of the core vocabulary, even though the envelope of variation is comparable across the two cases. We also find that the residual variation in the rate of replacement of kinship terms is related to genealogical distance of referent to kin. We argue that this relationship is the result of social changes and corresponding shifts in the entire semantic class of kinship terms, shifts typically not present in the core vocabulary. Thus, an understanding of the scope and limits of social change is needed to understand changes in kinship systems, and broader context is necessary to model cultural evolution in particular and the process of system change in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Péter Rácz
- Cognitive Development Center, Central European University, Budapest 1051, Hungary
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK
| | - Sam Passmore
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK
| | - Catherine Sheard
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TJ, UK
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Fiona M. Jordan
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK
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10
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Everett C. Is native quantitative thought concretized in linguistically privileged ways? A look at the global picture. Cogn Neuropsychol 2019; 37:340-354. [PMID: 31539296 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2019.1668368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
This work investigates whether reference in speech to certain quantities, namely 1, 2, and 3, is privileged linguistically due to our brain's native quantitative capacities. It is suggested that these small quantities are not privileged in specific ways suggested in the literature. The case that morphology privileges these quantities, apart from 1, is difficult to maintain in light of the cross-linguistic data surveyed. The grammatical expression of 2 is explained without appealing to innate quantitative reasoning and the grammatical expression of 3 is not truly characteristic of speech once language relatedness is considered. The case that 1, 2, and 3 are each privileged lexically is also difficult to maintain in the face of the global linguistic data. While native neurobiological architecture biases humans towards recognizing small quantities in precise ways, these biases do not yield clear patterns in numerical language worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caleb Everett
- Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
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11
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Dominant words rise to the top by positive frequency-dependent selection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:7397-7402. [PMID: 30898886 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1816994116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A puzzle of language is how speakers come to use the same words for particular meanings, given that there are often many competing alternatives (e.g., "sofa," "couch," "settee"), and there is seldom a necessary connection between a word and its meaning. The well-known process of random drift-roughly corresponding in this context to "say what you hear"-can cause the frequencies of alternative words to fluctuate over time, and it is even possible for one of the words to replace all others, without any form of selection being involved. However, is drift alone an adequate explanation of a shared vocabulary? Darwin thought not. Here, we apply models of neutral drift, directional selection, and positive frequency-dependent selection to explain over 417,000 word-use choices for 418 meanings in two natural populations of speakers. We find that neutral drift does not in general explain word use. Instead, some form of selection governs word choice in over 91% of the meanings we studied. In cases where one word dominates all others for a particular meaning-such as is typical of the words in the core lexicon of a language-word choice is guided by positive frequency-dependent selection-a bias that makes speakers disproportionately likely to use the words that most others use. This bias grants an increasing advantage to the common form as it becomes more popular and provides a mechanism to explain how a shared vocabulary can spontaneously self-organize and then be maintained for centuries or even millennia, despite new words continually entering the lexicon.
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12
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Rapid Change in Mammalian Eye Shape Is Explained by Activity Pattern. Curr Biol 2019; 29:1082-1088.e3. [PMID: 30853430 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Revised: 01/08/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The rate of morphological evolution along the branches of a phylogeny varies widely [1-6]. Although such rate variation is often assumed to reflect the strength of historical natural selection resulting in adaptation [7-14], this lacks empirical and analytical evidence. One way to demonstrate a relationship between branchwise rates and adaptation would be to show that rapid rates of evolution are linked with ecological shifts or key innovations. Here, we test for this link by determining whether activity pattern, the time of day at which species are active, explains rapid bursts of evolutionary change in eye shape. Using modern approaches to identify shifts in the rate of morphological evolution [7, 13], we find that over 74% of rapid eye-shape change during mammalian evolutionary history is directly explained by distinct selection pressures acting on nocturnal, cathemeral, and diurnal species. Our results reveal how ecological changes occurring along the branches of a phylogeny can manifest in subsequent changes in the rate of morphological evolution. Although selective pressures exerted by different activity patterns have acted uniformly across all mammals, we find differences in the rate of eye-shape evolution among orders. The key to understanding this is in how ecology itself has evolved. We find heterogeneity in how activity pattern has evolved among mammals that ultimately led to differences in the rate of eye-shape evolution among species. Our approach represents an exciting new way to pinpoint factors driving adaptation, enabling a clearer understanding of the factors that drive the evolution of biological diversity.
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13
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Jacobs Danan JA, Gelman R. The problem with percentages. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:rstb.2016.0519. [PMID: 29292346 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A great many students at a major research university make basic conceptual mistakes in responding to simple questions about two successive percentage changes. The mistakes they make follow a pattern already familiar from research on the difficulties that elementary school students have in coming to terms with fractions and decimals. The intuitive core knowledge of arithmetic with the natural numbers makes learning to count and do simple arithmetic relatively easy. Those same principles become obstacles to understanding how to operate with rational numbers.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The origins of numerical abilities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Jacobs Danan
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
| | - Rochel Gelman
- Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University, 152 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
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14
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Butterworth B, Gallistel CR, Vallortigara G. Introduction: The origins of numerical abilities. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:rstb.2016.0507. [PMID: 29292355 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Brian Butterworth
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - C R Gallistel
- Center for Cog Science, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Giorgio Vallortigara
- Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto (Trento), 38068, Italy
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15
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Abstract
Human language is unique among all forms of animal communication. It is unlikely that any other species, including our close genetic cousins the Neanderthals, ever had language, and so-called sign ‘language’ in Great Apes is nothing like human language. Language evolution shares many features with biological evolution, and this has made it useful for tracing recent human history and for studying how culture evolves among groups of people with related languages. A case can be made that language has played a more important role in our species’ recent (circa last 200,000 years) evolution than have our genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Pagel
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6UR, UK.
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