However, the interpretation of the causal arrow is that a change in A causes a change in B. In that sense, changing FOXP2 doesn't cause a change in gene mutation (it IS gene mutation), and changing the properties of gene mutation doesn't cause language deficits (at least, that's not what the authors intend to claim). It might be better to just delete "gene mutation" and have a direct link from "gene: FOXP2" to "language deficits". This would mean "a change to the fox p2 gene causes language deficits to appear".
2) You have a link:
imitation > vocalisation
with the following quote:
"Many species use innately specified calls, but a few acquire new vocalizations through the imitation of peers, including three groups of birds (parrots, hummingbirds and song-birds) and at least three groups of mammals (humans, cetaceans and bats)."
Does imitation CAUSE vocalisations? There's a variable already in CHIELD called "vocal learning" and another called "vocalisation imitation". Have a think about which best fits the paper, but you could have e.g. imitation >> vocal learning >> language acquisition.
seannyD
commented
5 years ago
Document: fisher2006eloquent Contributors: @ArchieH-B
Thanks for the submission! I just have two comments:
1) You have the following links:
"gene: FOXP2" > "gene mutation" > "language deficits"
However, the interpretation of the causal arrow is that a change in A causes a change in B. In that sense, changing FOXP2 doesn't cause a change in gene mutation (it IS gene mutation), and changing the properties of gene mutation doesn't cause language deficits (at least, that's not what the authors intend to claim). It might be better to just delete "gene mutation" and have a direct link from "gene: FOXP2" to "language deficits". This would mean "a change to the fox p2 gene causes language deficits to appear".
2) You have a link:
imitation > vocalisation
with the following quote:
Does imitation CAUSE vocalisations? There's a variable already in CHIELD called "vocal learning" and another called "vocalisation imitation". Have a think about which best fits the paper, but you could have e.g. imitation >> vocal learning >> language acquisition.