13. MODERN STUDIES OF COMMUNICATION OF HIGHER SPINE

Communication is defined differently by different specialists. Hind singled out two of its aspects: intention (focus) and adaptability.

Different representatives of different behavioral schools understand different communication signals. Sociobiologists study all the ways in which one partner determines the behavior of another. Evolutionists (ethologists) investigate only the adaptive aspects of behavior that were formed in the evolutionary process for the transmission of messages, the rules of interaction with the outside world. Comparative psychologists (studying cognitive processes) are interested in the directionality of the signal, the mechanisms of amplification and uniqueness of signals, communication in general.

The first, classical, animal communication theory was proposed by ethologists; K. Lorenz, N. Tinbergen, K. Frisch received the Nobel Prize for the study of communication. Ethologists, speaking of the behavior of animals in nature, argued that each kind of behavior is created by interaction with the environment; behavior develops in evolution and is transmitted genetically

Behavior is any external manifestation of the vital activity of an organism. The behavioral flow is a very complex, multi-parameter system. To analyze the behavior, you need to select its unit. Each school has a different attitude to this problem. Ethologists identified a fixed act of action (FAP), a stereotypical element. It is always easily recognized and manifested in strictly defined situations, mainly when interacting with a partner. FAP demonstration manifests itself in a certain exaggerated stimulus - release (specific signal stimulus).

Movements they have special features:

1. Movement is always exaggerated, defiantly, rigid.
2. The movement is strictly stereotyped, the number of elements is fixed.
3. All movements are necessarily repeated, they are rhythmic and lined up in a chain of actions - a demonstration.

Ritualization is the process of transforming the evolution of any everyday movement into a demonstration of FAP. Any daily movement can ritualize. Signs of ritualization: movement is stereotypical, exaggerated form and repetition.

According to the theory of the mid-20th century, cybernetics + zoology, communication is the exchange of discrete signals. Cybernetics offered quantitative estimates of communication. In information theory (Shannon) bits - information that is incorporated in the message about a random event that has two outcomes: "yes" and "no." Ethologists compiled an etogram - a table of animal behavior in terms of "yes-no". So, the whole communication process was divided into discrete elements (FAP) and the probability of occurrence of this element was calculated by the frequency of occurrence.

The ethological concept has long been the most popular, but in the 70s a crisis arose. At present, the epigenetic theory of communication has become the most common: behavior is the result of the interaction of innate and acquired components. The object of observation most typical for this direction is birds singing. Their songs are difficult to build, they have many connections with the language of the person, metaphors are distinguished. For example, n communication finch song consists of notes - sequences of elements that end with the final "stroke". The chain of notes includes syllables formed by a series of notes. ..