Hmmmm.....

Tue Jan 11 02:32:06 UTC 2005

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 83 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: tech_chan_468x60.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 20066 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 82 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0001.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0001.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
January 10, 2005
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 76 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0002.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0002.gif>
-------------- next part --------------

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 60 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0003.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0003.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
Rats Can Tell Languages Apart
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 152 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0004.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0004.gif>
-------------- next part --------------

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 123 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0005.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0005.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
  The ability to distinguish between two different languages is not
unique to humans. New research indicates that rats can manage this as
well, making them the third type of mammal with this documented
ability.

  Juan M. Toro and his colleagues at the Parc Cientific de Barcelona in
Spain studied 16 rats exposed to sentences spoken in either Japanese or
Dutch. The researchers trained the animals to push a lever in response
to a specific sentence, and then played sentences in the other language
as well. Rats that were trained to respond to Dutch did not push the
lever after hearing Japanese and vice versa. Moreover, the creatures
could differentiate between Japanese and Dutch sentences that they
hadn't previously listened to. The rats' abilities were somewhat
limited, however: when different speakers were used for each sentence,
the animals encountered more difficulty telling them apart.
Nevertheless, Toro says "It was striking to find that rats can track
certain information that seems to be so important in language
development in humans."

  Previously, the ability to distinguish one type of speech from another
had been observed only in humans and tamarin monkeys. But just because
rats share this skill with humans does not mean the animals utilize it
in the same manner that we do. "Rats have not evolved the ability to
track prosodic [rhythmic and intonational] clues for linguistic
requirements," Toro explains. "It is more likely that they do it as a
byproduct of other abilities that have some evolutionary relevance for
them." The scientists present their findings in the January issue of
the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes.
--Sarah Graham
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 1776 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0006.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0006.gif>
-------------- next part --------------

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 48 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0007.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0007.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
© 1996-2005 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved.
  Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 191 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20050110/7ee128b5/attachment-0008.bin>