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Abstract

The origins of language have become a hotly debated topic in the last decade. Researchers from many fields have been trying to explain them using the tools that their specialisations provide. Also in Artificial Intelligence their has been interest in the topic, and computer science provides a very powerful tool for studying language as a complex dynamical system: multi-agent systems. In the thesis, we present four models based on the ``Language Game'' paradigm developed by Luc Steels for studying language. We support a gradualist view of the evolution of language, and we provide partial answers to three issues that need to be clarified in order to strengthen this position: (1) each stadium of the developing communication system must be viable and successful in its own right; (2) their must be a path from each intermediate communication system to the next; and (3) the users of the communication systems must be able to transition from one system to the next using only local data. Three models describe intermediate communication systems: a system in which the agents can exchange single words referencing one referent; a system in which the agents can exchange several words referencing one referent; and a system in which the agents can exchange complex, structured utterances referencing several referents. Experiments with these systems show that each system is a successful communication system in its own right. The fourth model attempts to show that the agents can make the transition from one communication system to the next successfully and on their own. Agents in this system have the cognitive capacities for two systems: (1) and (2), and have internal pressures that can push either of the communication systems as the one to use, based on different criteria. Two criteria push the agents from system (1) to system (2), yielding interesting results. The models and experiments in the thesis give positive results for each of the issues to be clarified, thereby supporting the gradual evolution hypothesis.

@phdthesis{vanlooveren05phd,
  author={Joris Van Looveren},
  title={Design and Performance of Pre-Grammatical Language Games},
  year={2005},
  school={Vrije Universiteit Brussel},
  url={http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/~amag/langev/paper/vanlooveren05phd.html}
}

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