Great Apes Have Just Passed A Complex "Theory Of Mind" Test

[Judi Lynn]

1. Apes are shown to rely on self-experience to anticipate others' actions

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

by Kyoto University

As close evolutionary relatives, you could say that great apes and humans look somewhat similar. And the more we learn about our great ape cousins, the more we find that we're alike.


A new study published in PNAS suggests that great apes—including chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans—have a theory of mind, meaning that they can understand others' mental states. A lively debate about whether any nonhuman species possess this ability has spanned decades.

As humans, we use a theory of mind to navigate in society.

Study author Fumihiro Kano of Kyoto University's Kumamoto Sanctuary and Primate Research Institute, together with a team composed of scientists from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the University of St Andrews, had previously demonstrated that great apes can anticipate an agent's actions, even when that agent has a false belief about reality. This is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that great apes can understand an agent's theory of mind.

More:
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-apes-shown-self-experience-actions.html