ABSTRACT
Humans obviously communicate using language, through spoken word as well as in writing. Humans also communicate in more subtle ways. There are three importantly different kinds of theories of communication: biological theories, information processing theories, and intentional theories. These three kinds of communication views about the nature of communication will give different answers to the questions in some cases, but they need not be in conflict with one another. And while intentional communication is of primary interest when it comes to looking at similarities and differences between humans and other animals, here again we see that our theories of intentional communication are still developing. Human and nonhuman communication systems might be continuous with one another, with animal systems having simpler aspects of many properties of human communication language. Animal cognition researchers have continued pursuing this interest in gestural theories of language evolution by examining gestural communication in other species.
