Doctor Dolittle's Delusion: Animals and the Uniqueness of Human Language
Winner of the 2004 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Division Annual Award Competition in the Psychology category

Can animals be taught a human language and use it to communicate? Or is human language unique to human beings, just as many complex behaviors of other species are uniquely theirs? This engrossing book explores communication and cognition in animals and humans from a linguistic point of view and asserts that animals are not capable of acquiring or using human language.

What we get with Dostoyevsky is dramatic tension, detailed and believable human characters, and brilliant insight into human nature. Early in the novel our hero meets and has a lengthy conversation with Marmeladov, a drunkard. This conversation is never uninteresting and ultimately becomes pathetic and heartbreaking, but I kept wondering why so much time was spent on it. As I got deeper into the book, I understood why this conversation was so important, and realized that I was in the hands of a master storyteller. This is also indicative of the way in which the story reveals itself. Nothing is hurried. These people speak the way we actually speak to one another in real life, and more importantly, Dostoyevsky is able to flesh out his characters into whole, three-dimensional human beings.

 

Reflects a consensus that the investigation of words in the mind offers a unique opportunity to understand both human language ability and general human cognition. Brings together key perspectives on the fundamental nature of the representation and processing of words in the mind.

Human Heritage: A World History's unique storytelling approach makes world history accessible for every student. Easy-to-read text and eye-catching images invite students to explore the history of the world and its people.