About This Project

Humans plan their speech ahead of time, but can animals do the same? What happens when an animal is ready to vocalize, but gets interrupted? We will examine whether meerkats prepare for calling, and whether they ever change their minds about it at the very last moment. We hypothesize that changes in breathing patterns can be used to detect and measure call intention. Showing these phenomena in animals would suggest that animal calls are highly intentional and are under complex cognitive control.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Humans are known to plan their speech in terms of what they want to say and how long they want to speak. An intention to talk can be detected by noticing the changes in breathing, as air has to be inhaled before speaking. In addition, the depth of inhale correlates with the duration of subsequent speech, meaning that we prepare our vocal apparatus both for the initiation and for the duration of speaking. So theoretically, by monitoring breathing we can identify when a person wants to talk even if eventually they change their mind. It is however not clear if animal calls have the same level of intentionality and control. Can animals plan ahead when and for how long they intend to call, and sometimes even change their minds about it? Or are animal calls just simple instinctive responses?

What is the significance of this project?

The evolutionary link between human language and animal vocal communication have been extensively studied. However the question of consciousness and intention behind animal calls remains unanswered. This project will tap into the decision-making processes behind animal vocal communication. Our prediction is that similarly to humans, animals plan ahead and prepare for their calls. Their decisions are flexible and affected in real time by received signals and changes in the social environment. This project will result in a novel method for measuring animals` intention and motivation to produce a call. Being able to predict calling behavior before it actually occurs will give us a powerful new tool for understanding the flexibility and complexity of animal communication.

What are the goals of the project?

We will observe meerkats in their natural habitat in South Africa during their morning vocal interactions. We will record their calls and film their faces using thermal cameras. From the thermal videos we will extract temperature values from the nasal area of the individual animals. From these temperature values, we will generate a simulated breathing curve (inhaled air cools the nostrils and exhaled air warms them). We will synchronize the breathing curve with call times and look for characteristic breathing patterns that consistently precede calling. Using these patterns we aim to predict when meerkat is preparing to make a call. We will also examine if those breathing patterns can be further classified to predict the duration of the subsequent calling.