According to a study published in the journal 'Psychological Science', when two people talk they tend to change their way of speaking to get closer. "They even imitate the body posture of the subject in front of them, for example the way they cross their arms," explains Patti Adank, a researcher at the University of Manchester and co-author of the work. But in addition, Adank has found that when we imitate the accent of the people with whom we speak, the understanding of the message improves greatly.
Researchers at Cornell University (USA) have used computerized speech analysis techniques to find out if there is a pattern in the words psychopaths use that can help identify them in a simple conversation. And they have found out that they talk more about sex, food and money than the rest of the population.
A study by American anthropologists from Stanford University and the Santa Fe Institute reveals that our ancestors placed words in sentences in a similar way to the popular Star Wars teacher Yoda. For example, they would say? You can speak well can? or "I hunt mammoth."
The language was transmitted by our male ancestors, according to a study by the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). Using genetic markers, scientists have found that the discovery applies to both the Scandinavian Vikings who reached Britain and the African or Polynesian tribes.
Can dogs read our minds? How do they learn to ask for food or decide to misbehave when we are not looking at them? According to Monique Udell and her team at the University of Florida, the way dogs respond to the level of attention people give them tells us something about the way they think and learn about human behavior.
A couple of Australian robots have started talking to each other in a language of their own invention. The two "Lingodroids", developed by the University of Queensland, have acquired their common language through location games that led them to build a common vocabulary for places, distances and directions.
Chimpanzees have a clear "self-awareness" and, like human beings, that awareness is linked to their ability to anticipate the effects of their own actions on their environment, reveals a research whose results are published in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York have concluded that doubts and phrases like "uh" or "umm" that parents use when expressing themselves help babies learn language more effectively. The work is published in the digital edition of the journal 'Developmental Science'.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
