Do you think it is possible for animals to learn syntax and grammar rules, and even more so that they could tell whether a phrase uses correct grammar or not? A recent study found that it is possible for monkeys to identify violations of grammar in a pattern similar to the skills used by people.
In 2013 in the United Kingdom, the study focused on thirteen Old World monkeys, Rhesus macaques, and four New World monkeys, marmosets, to decipher whether these animals could learn an artificial grammar that followed basic syntax. With a pattern of letters from A-G, these monkeys were given a series of phrases. The correct form of grammar went in alphabetical order beginning with the letter A; the incorrect forms either began with A and shortly after broke the pattern or began by breaking the pattern with another letter in the first position. Animals in each group were exposed to auditory cues and measured based on their level of response to the violations. Because of how well the macaques did, a further experiment involved eye-tracking. The animals were trained to fixate on a particular object and then were presented with the auditory cues, and their eyes were tracked.
The researchers found that the thirteen macaques responded more to the violation or incorrect sequences of letters (bad grammar) than the correct sequences (good grammar). Also, there were no differences observed between sequences that they were familiar with and correct, but new sequences that they had never heard before. This shows that they truly learned the grammar rules and only responded to violations of grammar. This meant that they could apply what they learned and differentiate. Although the marmosets responded to the violations of sequences as well; their responses were generally a result of violations of the first letter. In comparison, this is a simple understanding because they responded most to the changes of the first letter instead of changes of letters throughout the sequence. Both monkey species responded for longer durations of time to the violation compared with correct sequences. Eye-tracking further proved that the macaques’ ability to decide whether a sequence is correct or not does not depend on previous exposure to those particular sequences.
Old World monkeys, therefore, showed more evidence than New World monkeys to be able to learn some of the more complex aspects of language found in human speech. This is interesting because Old World monkeys, according to evolution, are more closely related to humans and auditory learners than are New World monkeys.
In learning a language, it is important for an individual to pay attention to placement of words such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs as they learn the rules of grammar. It appears that the processes that allow humans to be able to do so are also found in Old World monkeys especially. So, keep an eye out. You never know who’ll be grading your next English paper.
Reference:
