#1122 Daniela Rodrigues: Communication in Apes and Humans, and the Cognitive Foundations of Language

Jul 11, 2025

Daniela Rodrigues, an assistant professor at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, explores gestural communication in apes and its ties to human language. She discusses the complexity of gestures among chimpanzees, focusing on their greeting rituals and social interactions. The conversation highlights how arousal levels influence communication in primates and parallels with human behavior. Daniela also touches on how child-directed communication transcends cultures, offering insights into the evolutionary bridges between humans and apes.

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INSIGHT

Chimpanzee Greetings Explained

Greetings and leave-takings are ritualized signals used when arriving or leaving among chimpanzees.
These signals help maintain social relationships and are present in nuanced forms in chimpanzee communities.

INSIGHT

Social Selectivity in Greetings

Chimpanzees greet selectively based on social rank, relationships, and group mood.
They often avoid greeting every present individual, influenced by hierarchy and perceived risks.

INSIGHT

Greeting Preferences in Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees generally greet non-kin individuals more than genetically related ones.
Greeting non-kin might be safer due to social dynamics and potential aggression in chimp communities.

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Dr. Evelina Daniela Rodrigues is an invited assistant professor at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, where she teaches Master’s students about the cognitive foundations of language. She studies gestural communication in human and non-human primates. Beyond communication, she is also interested in other aspects of social development and cognition, including interactions among social partners (such as hierarchy and social bonds), social learning and culture, object manipulation and tool use, and theory of mind.

In this episode, we talk about communication in apes and humans, and the cognitive foundations of language. We start by talking about the apes and types of communication Dr. Rodrigues studies. We talk about gestures in non-human apes, greetings and leave-takings in chimpanzees, greetings and leave-takings in humans, and how apes and humans adjust their communication during development. We also talk about child-directed communication in chimpanzees and humans, and we discuss whether “motherese” is a human universal. Finally, we talk about the link between gestures and language, and the cognitive foundations of language.

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