Human Language & Other Animal Communication Systems
CPDT-KA CEUs: 1.5
IAABC CEUs: 1.5
$35
Linguists have insisted, and rightly so, that human language is unique in its complexity compared with other animal communication systems. This isn’t to say that other animal communication systems are not complex! The main focus of this course, though, will be on what happens when we attempt to teach other animals our own language. While trainers already have an implicit understanding of what happens, in this course we will review experimental attempts that demonstrate the specific constraints on language learning in animals. In short, we will cover the properties of human language that make it fundamentally different from other systems of communication, what other animals are predisposed to learn about our language, and potential implications. This course will focus on communication with mammals only.
Ashlynn d’Harcourt, Ph.D.
Ashlynn earned her doctorate in Cognitive Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin, where she spent six years studying properties of human language. During this time, she developed an interest in other animal communications systems as well. She has been teaching courses on human cognition at various universities, including Texas State University and more recently the University of California at Santa Cruz and Berkeley extension in the Bay area for the past few years.
She also has a passion for working with animals in applied settings. During her studies, Ashlynn frequently traveled back home to her mother’s stables and therapeutic horseback riding center, All Star Equestrian Foundation (www.allstarfoundation.org/), where she volunteered in classes, received horse handling training, and found her dog, Augustus “Gus” McCray, a stray who wandered into the stables. Gus later served as the inspiration for Ashlynn to continue the humane approach to animal training she learned at All Star to work with dogs.
Ashlynn looks forward to discussing the topics in psychology with the companion animal training community. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, Charles, and their dog, Gus.
Refund Policy: The course fee will be refunded, in its entirety, so long as the enrollee requests a refund in writing no later than the 14th day after the course is purchased. Alternatively, the enrollee may request an exchange or credit toward a different course, instead of a refund.
