How Human Apes Learned to Talk with Dr Gillian Forrester | S2E39

Talking Apes

Did tool-use lead to talking?
Dr. Gilly Forrester’s groundbreaking research has contributed significantly to our understanding of the evolution of language in humans. Her work, focused on the cognitive abilities of great apes, has highlighted fascinating discoveries about their use of tools and problem solving abilities.
"We share an incredible evolutionary history with other great apes."
One of Gilly's observations has been that apes can modify tools to make them more effective, suggesting a level of cognitive flexibility that was previously thought to be unique to humans. Furthermore, they use tools for a wide range of purposes, including foraging, hunting and communication. Gilly proposes that tool use may have been a precursor to the development of language in humans.
Join us this week on Talking Apes Podcast where Dr Gillian Forrester shares her captivating findings on how tool-use may have been the evolutionary stepping stone that laid the foundations for the language that we humans we use today.
Gillian Forrester is Professor of Evolutionary and Developmental Psychology at the University of Sussex. She holds her PhD in Experimental Psychology form the University of Oxford. To learn more about her work visit:
gillianforrester.com
mehuman.io
sussex.ac.uk/gillian-forrester
*Please note, the chimpanzee in the header photo is behind glass. Primate professionals do not condone direct human-ape contact unless in an emergency situation.

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