title: Modeling Co-evolution of Speech and Biology.
abstract: Two computer simulations are investigated that model interaction of cultural evolution of language and biological evolution of adaptations to language. Both are agent-based models in which a population of agents imitates each other using realistic vowels. The agents evolve under selective pressure for good imitation. In one model, the evolution of the vocal tract is modeled; in the other, a cognitive mechanism for perceiving speech accurately is modeled. In both cases, biological adaptations to using and learning speech evolve, even though the system of speech sounds itself changes at a more rapid time scale than biological evolution. However, the fact that the available acoustic space is used maximally (a self-organized result of cultural evolution) is constant, and therefore biological evolution does have a stable target. This work shows that when cultural and biological traits are continuous, their co-evolution may lead to cognitive adaptations that are strong enough to detect empirically.
authors.affiliation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, AI-lab.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Boer
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010700:Phonetics; D013060:Speech
keywords: Co-evolution; Computer models; Cultural evolution; Culture-biology co-evolution; Language evolution; Speech evolution