人类发声过程随着生长而变化，一开始从哭，到含糊不清地说，到清晰的说出每一个字，这样的模式在别的动物上都没有存在，实际上大家都认为鸟类学叫的过程跟人类是比较相似的，但是美国普林斯顿大学的研究人员D.Y. Takahashi等通过观察狨猴在出生后前两个月的学叫过程，了解了非人类灵长类动物学习发声的情况。

     研究人员曾经认为，在非人类灵长类动物的成长过程中，它们的发声几乎或者根本没有受到其看护者的影响;但是，一项新的研究揭示出，狨猴的幼崽在形成其发声的过程中会利用来自成年狨的声音线索。这是一个令人惊喜的转折，因为人类可能并不是唯一通过早期沟通进而使发声形成过程受益的灵长类。为了监测绒猴的声音发育，Daniel Takahashi等人用4种得到良好确认的声学参数记录了绒猴在出生后第一天及两个月大之间的发声。成年绒猴会发出独特的、哨声样的“phees”，但婴儿期绒猴则会发出不成熟的诸如哭叫、phee样哭叫及次谐和phee声。该研究团队试图确定身体的成熟或向照顾者学习是否是从不成熟的phees声过渡至成年动物中所听到的复杂phees声的基础关键机制。应用一个模型并通过检测绒猴的呼吸活动验证了该模型，这使得该团队确认，这一过渡至少有部分是绒猴身体成熟时因呼吸变得更为稳定而造成的。然而，通过对整组婴儿期绒猴的生长与声学改变比例进行分析，他们发现，生理生长并不能完全解释叫喊至phees的过渡。该团队接着对父母亲对婴儿发声做出的反应是否会影响叫喊至phees过渡的时间进行了调查，发现它们之间具有强相关性，表明绒猴发声的发育依赖于父母给予的语音反馈。由Daniel Margoliash和Ofer Tchernichovsk撰写的一篇《视角》对绒猴及所有其它物种中的学习发声的作用提出了进一步的见解。

 
      原文链接：The developmental dynamics of marmoset monkey vocal production

      原文摘要：Human vocal development occurs through two parallel interactive processes that transform infant cries into more mature vocalizations, such as cooing sounds and babbling. First, natural categories of sounds change as the vocal apparatus matures. Second, parental vocal feedback sensitizes infants to certain features ofthose sounds, and the sounds are modified accordingly. Paradoxically, our closest living ancestors, nonhuman primates, are thought to undergo few or no production-related acoustic changes during development, and any such changes are thought to be impervious to social feedback. Using early and dense sampling, quantitative tracking of acoustic changes, and biomechanical modeling, we showed thatvocalizations in infant marmoset monkeys undergo dramatic changes that cannot be solely attributed to simple consequences of growth. Using parental interaction experiments, we found that contingent parental feedback influences the rate of vocal development. These findings overturn decades-old ideas about primatevocalizations and show that marmoset monkeys are a compelling model system for early vocal development in humans.