?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Language+discrimination+by+human+newborns+and+by+cotton-top+tamarin+monkeys&rft.creator=Ramus%2C+Franck&rft.creator=Hauser%2C+Marc+D.&rft.creator=Miller%2C+Cory&rft.creator=Morris%2C+Dylan&rft.creator=Mehler%2C+Jacques&rft.subject=Animal+Cognition&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Primatology&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Comparative+Psychology&rft.subject=Developmental+Psychology&rft.subject=Phonology&rft.subject=Psycholinguistics&rft.description=Humans%2C+but+no+other+animal%2C+make+meaningful+use+of+spoken+language.+What+is+unclear%2C+however%2C+is+whether+this+capacity+depends+on+a+unique+constellation+of+perceptual+and+neurobiological+mechanisms%2C+or+whether+a+subset+of+such+mechanisms+are+shared+with+other+organisms.+To+explore+this+problem%2C+we+conducted+parallel+experiments+on+human+newborns+and+cotton-top+tamarin+monkeys+to+assess+their+ability+to+discriminate+unfamiliar+languages.+Using+a+habituation-dishabituation+procedure%2C+we+show+that+human+newborns+and+tamarins+can+discriminate+sentences+from+Dutch+and+Japanese%2C+but+not+if+the+sentences+are+played+backwards.+Moreover%2C+the+cues+for+discrimination+are+not+present+in+backward+speech.+This+suggests+that+the+human+newborns'+tuning+to+certain+properties+of+speech+relies+on+general+processes+of+the+primate+auditory+system.&rft.publisher=American+Association+for+the+Advancement+of+Science&rft.date=2000-04&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F870%2F3%2Ftamarin99.pdf&rft.identifier=++Ramus%2C+Franck+and+Hauser%2C+Marc+D.+and+Miller%2C+Cory+and+Morris%2C+Dylan+and+Mehler%2C+Jacques++(2000)+Language+discrimination+by+human+newborns+and+by+cotton-top+tamarin+monkeys.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F870%2F