Wiki+Nominations!!!

==== I just realized after I made this page that there was already a page. I guess I should have jumped on it sooner (been doing my taxes). Anyways since I already made this page I will just consolidate all of the info here. Feel free to add your nominations wherever and I will pick them up and format them here when I have time. Additionally if you have decided to take on the challenge of doing one of these articles on your own, feel free to delete the nomination so that there isn't any interference. -Evy ====

Unsure if this is where we put in our votes, but a few of the nominations appeal to me: #2, 5, and 6 I wouldn't mind doing any of these. -Morgan 3/3/12 =This is the (other) page for Wiki article nominations!= lol this is much better then the one i started :)

Nomination #1 Language Acquisition Device
"The **Language Acquisition Device** (LAD) is a postulated "organ" of the [|brain] that is supposed to function as a [|congenital] device for learning [|symbolic] language (i.e., [|language acquisition]). First proposed by [|Noam Chomsky], the LAD concept is an instinctive mental capacity which enables an infant to acquire and produce language. It is component of the [|nativist theory] of language. This theory asserts that humans are born with the instinct or "innate facility" for acquiring language. Chomsky has gradually abandoned the LAD in favour of a parameter-setting model of language acquisition ([|principles and parameters])."

This article is a little more mature than we might be looking for, but the discussion page is pretty dead and we could do a lot for it by organizing it, adding references, and making it easier to read. I think we would learn a bunch about Chomsky in the process.

Nomination #2 Cephalopod intelligence

 * "Cephalopod intelligence** has an important comparative aspect in the understanding of [|intelligence] because it relies on a nervous system fundamentally different from that of [|vertebrates].[|[][|1][|]] The cephalopod [|class] of [|molluscs], particularly the [|Coleoidea] subclass ([|cuttlefish], [|squid] and [|octopuses]), are considered the most intelligent [|invertebrates] and an important example of advanced cognitive evolution in animals."

I've found a mature page about Squid intelligence that could use some updated about recent discoveries regarding their camouflage abilities as a form communication. Here is an article on recent discoveries about cephalopod's may be using their color changing as a form of communication.

Nomination #3 The Language Instinct
"//**The Language Instinct**// is a book by [|Steven Pinker] for a general audience, published in 1994. In it, Pinker presents the argument that [|humans] are born with an innate capacity for [|language]. In addition, he deals sympathetically with [|Noam Chomsky]'s claim that all human language shows evidence of a [|universal grammar]. In the final chapter Pinker dissents from the skepticism shown by Chomsky that [|evolution] by [|natural selection] is up to the challenge of explaining a human language instinct."

This is is a "start class" article about "the language instinct" that would leave a lot of possibilities for improvement.

Nomination #4 Bow-wow Theory
"The **bow-wow theory** refers to theories by various scholars, including [|Jean-Jacques Rousseau] and [|Johann Gottfried Herder], on the [|origins] of [|human language]. Bow-wow theories suggest that the first human languages developed as [|onomatopoeia], imitations of natural sounds. The name "bow-wow theory" was coined by [|Max Müller], a [|philologist] who was critical of the notion. The bow-wow theory is largely discredited as an account of the origin of language, though some contemporary theories suggest that general imitative abilities may have played an important role in the evolution of language."

This is a true stub article and could use quite a bit of work.

Nomination #4 [|A Man Without words (wiki)] [|A Man Without Words Podcast]
//**A Man Without Words**// is a book by Susan Schaller with a forward by Oliver Sack. The book is the study of a 27 year old deaf man whom she teaches how to speak for the first time, challenging the cliché that humans can't learn a language after a certain age.

This article is an Orphan

Nomination #5 //[|Clyde Roper]//
"**Clyde F. E. Roper** is a [|zoologist] at the [|Smithsonian Institution]. He has organised many expeditions to [|New Zealand] to study [|giant squid], in [|1997], [|1999], and possibly [|2003]. He is a 1959 graduate of [|Transylvania University] in [|Lexington, Kentucky]."

I found this one so far: noted zoologist, especially in giant squid research, I've seen him appear in various giant squid documentaries and such. There seems to be plenty of information about him which has not been added in this particular article yet. I'll try to find more possible articles we could do for this project in the meantime. **-Morgan (wiki username: Douninowt)** //OMG Giant squid scientist, screw the other nominations!-Evy//

Nomination #6 [|Contact Calls]
===="Contact Calls" is a very small article that could have lots of material added to it. I originally found it because I was interested in learning more about chicken communication--they are constantly making noises and "clucking." Contact calls are just that--everyday sounds and noises made to accompany life.====