On the lack of evidence that non-human animals possess anything remotely resembling a 'theory of mind'

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volumn 362, Issue 1480, 2007, Pages 731-744

  Penn, Derek C ^a   Povinelli, Daniel J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE   (United States)

Author keywords

Chimpanzees; Corvids; Folk psychology; Mental state attribution; Parsimony; Theory of mind

Indexed keywords

COGNITION; PARSIMONY ANALYSIS; PRIMATE; PSYCHOLOGY; THEORY;

ANIMALIA; CORVIDA; PAN;

EID: 34447341188     PISSN: 09628436     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2006.2023     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (74)

1. Andrews, K. 2005 Chimpanzee theory of mind: looking in all the wrong places? Mind Lang. 20, 521-536.
2. Andrews, G., Halford, G. S., Bunch, K. M., Bowden, D. & Jones, T. 2003 Theory of mind and relational complexity. Child Dev. 74, 1476-1499. (doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00618)
3. Birch, S. A. J. & Bloom, P. 2004 Understanding children's and adults' limitations in mental state reasoning. Trends Cogn. Sci. 8, 255-260. (doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.04.011)
4. Bloom, P. 2000 How children learn the meaning of words. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
5. Bloom, P. 2002 Mindreading, communication and the learning of names for things. Mind Lang. 17, 37-54.
6. Bugnyar, T. & Heinrich, B. 2005 Ravens, Corvus corax, differentiate between knowledgeable and ignorant competitors. Proc. R. Soc. B 272, 1641-1646. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3144)
7. Bugnyar, T. & Heinrich, B. 2006 Pilfering ravens, Corvus corax, adjust their behaviour to social context and identity of competitors. Anim. Cogn. 9, 369-376. (doi:10.1007/s10071-006-0035-6)
8. Call, J. & Tomasello, M. 1999 A nonverbal false belief task: the performance of children and great apes. Child Dev. 70, 381-395. (doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00028)
9. Call, J., Hare, B. & Tomasello, M. 1998 Chimpanzee gaze following in an object-choice task. Anim. Cogn. 3, 23-34. (doi:10.1007/ s100710050047)
10. Carruthers, P. & Smith, P. K. (eds) 1996 Theories of theory of mind. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
11. Clayton, N. S. & Emery, N. J. 2005 Corvid cognition. Curr. Biol. 15, R80-R81. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2005.01.020)
12. Clayton, N. S., Griffiths, D. P., Emery, N. J. & Dickinson, A. 2001 Elements of episodic-like memory in animals. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 356, 1483-1491. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2001.0947)
13. Clayton, N. S., Dally, J. M. & Emery, N. J. 2007 Social cognition by food-caching corvids. The western scrub-jay as a natural psychologist. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 362, 507-522. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1992)
14. Dally, J. M., Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. 2006 Food-caching western scrub-jays keep track of who was watching when. Science 312, 1662-1665. (doi:10.1126/science. 1126539)
15. Davies, M. & Stone, T. (eds) 1995a Folk psychology. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
16. Davies, M. & Stone, T. (eds) 1995b Mental simulation. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
17. Dennett, D. C. 1987 The intentional stance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
18. Dretske, F. I. 1988 Explaining behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
19. Emery, N. J. 2004 Are corvids 'feathered apes'? Cognitive evolution in crows, jays, rooks and jackdaws. In Comparative analysis of minds (ed. S. Watanabe). Tokyo, Japan: Keio University Press.
20. Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. 2001 Effects of experience and social context on prospective caching strategies by scrub jays. Nature 414, 443-446. (doi:10.1038/35106560)
21. Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. 2004 The mentality of crows: convergent evolution of intelligence in corvids and apes. Science 306, 1903-1907. (doi:10.1126/science.1098410)
22. Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. 2005 Evolution of the avian brain and intelligence. Curr. Biol. 15, R946-R950. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2005. 11.029)
23. Flombaum, J. I. & Santos, L. R. 2005 Rhesus monkeys attribute perceptions to others. Curr. Biol. 15, 447-452. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2004.12.076)
24. Gentner, D., Holyoak, K. J. & Kokinov, B. K. (eds) 2001 The analogical mind: perspectives from cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
25. Goldman, A. 1993 The psychology of folk psychology. Behav. Brain Sci. 16, 15-28.
26. Goodall, J. 1986 The chimpanzees of Gombe; patterns of behavior. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, Harvard University Press.
27. Gordon, R. 1986 Folk psychology as simulation. Mind Lang. 1, 158-171.
28. Gordon, R. 1996 'Radical' simulationism. In Theories of theories of mind (eds P. Carruthers & P. K. Smith), pp. 11-21. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
29. Halford, G. S., Wilson, W. H. & Phillips, S. 1998 Processing capacity defined by relational complexity: implications for comparative, developmental, and cognitive psychology. Behav. Brain Sci. 21, 803-864. (doi:10.1017/S0140525X98001769)
30. Hare, B. 2001 Can competitive paradigms increase the validity of experiments on primate social cognition? Anim. Cogn. 4, 269-280. (doi:10.1007/s100710100084)
31. Hare, B., Call, J., Agnetta, B. & Tomasello, M. 2000 Chimpanzees know what conspecifics do and do not see. Anim. Behav. 59, 771-785. (doi:10.1006/anbe. 1999.1377)
32. Hare, B., Call, J. & Tomasello, M. 2001 Do chimpanzees know what conspecifics know? Anim. Behav. 61, 771-785. (doi:10.1006/anbe. 2000.1518)
33. Heyes, C. M. 1998 Theory of mind in nonhuman primates. Behav. Brain Sci. 21, 101-148. (doi:10.1017/S0140525X98000703)
34. Hostetter, A. B., Cantero, M. & Hopkins, W. D. 2001 Differential use of vocal and gestural communication by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in response to the attentional status of a human (Homo sapiens). J. Comp. Psychol. 115, 337-343.
35. Hunt, G. R. 1996 Manufacture and use of hook-tools by New Caledonian crows. Nature 379, 249-251. (doi:10.1038/379249a0)
36. Hunt, G. R. 2004 The crafting of hook tools by wild New Caledonian crows. Proc. R. Soc. B 271(Suppl. 3), S88-S90. (doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003. 0085)
37. Hurley, S. & Nudds, M. 2006 The questions of animal rationality: theory and evidence. In Rational animals? (eds M. Nudds & S. Hurley), pp. 1-83. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
38. Hurley, S. & Chater, N. (eds) 2005 Perspectives on imitation: from neuroscience to social science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
39. Karin-D'Arcy, M. R. & Povinelli, D. J. 2002 Do chimpanzees know what each other see? A closer look. Int. J. Comp. Psychol. 15, 21-54.
40. Leavens, D. A., Hostetter, A. B., Wesley, M. J. & Hopkins, W. D. 2004 Tactical use of unimodal and bimodal communication by chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Anim. Behav. 67, 467-476. (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003. 04.007)
41. Markman, A. B. & Dietrich, E. 2000 In defense of representation. Cogn. Psychol. 40, 138-171. (doi:10.1006/cogp.1999.0727)
42. Meltzoff, A. 2007 'Like me': a foundation for social cognition. Dev. Sci. 10, 126-134. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00574.x)
43. Meltzoff, A. & Moore, M. K. 1997 Explaining facial imitation: a theoretical model. Early Dev. Parenting 6, 179-192. (doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0917(199709/12)6:3/4〈179::AID-EDP157〉 3.0.CO;2-R)
44. Nichols, S. & Stich, S. P. 2003 Mindreading: an integrated account of pretence, self-awareness and understanding other minds. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
45. Penn, D. & Povinelli, D. J. 2007 Causal cognition in human and nonhuman animals: a comparative, critical review. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 58, 97-118. (doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085555)
46. Povinelli, D. J. 2003 Folk physics for apes. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
47. Povinelli, D. J. & Eddy, T. J. 1996a Chimpanzees: joint visual attention. Psychol. Sci. 7, 129-135. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280. 1996.tb00345.x)
48. Povinelli, D. J. & Eddy, T. J. 1996b Factors influencing young chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) recognition of attention. J. Comp. Psychol. 110, 336-345. (doi:10.1037/0735-7036.110.4.336)
49. Povinelli, D. J. & Eddy, T. J. 1996c What young chimpanzees know about seeing. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. 61, i-vi. (doi:10.2307/1166159) 1-191.
50. Povinelli, D. J. & Giambrone, S. 1999 Inferring other minds: flaws in the argument by analogy. Phil. Top. 27, 167-201.
51. Povinelli, D. J. & Vonk, J. 2003 Chimpanzee minds: suspiciously human? Trends Cogn. Sci. 7, 157-160. (doi:10.1016/S1364-6613(03) 00053-6)
52. Povinelli, D. J. & Vonk, J. 2004 We don't need a microscope to explore the chimpanzee's mind. Mind Lang. 19, 1-28.
53. Povinelli, D. J., Bering, J. M. & Giambrone, S. 2000 Toward a science of other minds: escaping the argument by analogy. Cogn. Sci. 24, 509-541. (doi:10.1016/S0364-0213(00)00023-9)
54. Povinelli, D. J., Dunphy-Lelii, S., Reauxa, J. E. & Mazza, M. P. 2002 Psychological diversity in chimpanzees and humans: new longitudinal assessments of chimpanzees' understanding of attention. Brain Behav. Evol. 59, 33-53. (doi:10.1159/000063732)
55. Premack, D. & Woodruff, G. 1978 Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behav. Brain Sci. 4, 515-526.
56. Santos, L. R., Nissen, A. G. & Ferrugia, J. 2006 Rhesus monkeys, Macaca mulatta, know what others can and cannot hear. Anim. Behav. 71, 1175-1181. (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.10.007)
57. Seed, A. M., Tebbich, S., Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. 2006 Investigating physical cognition in rooks (Corvus frugilegus). Curr. Biol. 16, 697-701. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.02.066)
58. Silk, J. B. 2002 The form and function of reconciliation in primates. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 31, 21-44. (doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.31. 032902.101743)
59. Suddendorf, T. & Whiten, A. 2001 Mental evolution and development: evidence for secondary representation in children, great apes and other animals. Psychol. Bull. 127, 629-650. (doi:10.1037/0033-2909.127.5.629)
60. Tebbich, S., Seed, A. M., Emery, N. J. & Clayton, N. S. In press. Non-tool-using rooks (Corvus frugilegus) solve the trap-tube task. Anim. Cogn.
61. Tomasello, M. & Call, J. 1997 Primate cognition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
62. Tomasello, M. & Call, J. 2006 Do chimpanzees know what others see - or only what they are looking at? In Rational animals? (eds S Hurley & M. Nudds), pp. 371-384. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
63. Tomasello, M., Call, J., Nagell, K., Olguin, R. & Carpenter, M. 1994 The learning and use of gestural signals by young chimpanzees: a trans-generational study. Primates 35, 137-154. (doi:10.1007/BF02382050)
64. Tomasello, M., Hare, B. & Agnetta, B. 1999 Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, follow gaze direction geometrically. Anim. Behav. 58, 769-777. (doi:10.1006/anbe. 1999.1192)
65. Tomasello, M., Call, J. & Hare, B. 2003a Chimpanzees understand psychological states - the question is which ones and to what extent. Trends Cogn. Sci. 7, 153-156. (doi:10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00035-4)
66. Tomasello, M., Call, J. & Hare, B. 2003b Chimpanzees versus humans: it's not that simple. Trends Cogn. Sci. 7, 239-240. (doi:10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00107-4)
67. Tomasello, M., Carpenter, M., Call, J., Behne, T. & Moll, H. 2005 Understanding and sharing intentions: the origins of cultural cognition. Behav. Brain Sci. 28, 675-691. (doi:10.1017/S0140525X05000129)
68. Visalberghi, E. & Tomasello, M. 1998 Primate causal understanding in the physical and psychological domains. Behav. Processes 42, 189-203. (doi:10.1016/S0376-6357(97)00076-4)
69. Wellman, H. M., Cross, D. & Watsonl, J. 2001 Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: the truth about false belief. Child Dev. 72, 655-684. (doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00304)
70. Whiten, A. 1996 When does behaviour-reading become mind-reading. In Theories of theory of mind (eds P. Carruthers & P. K. Smith), pp. 277-292. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
71. Whiten, A. 1997 The Machiavellian mindreader. In Machiavellian intelligence II: extensions and evaluations (eds A. Whiten & R. W. Byrne), pp. 144-173. Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
72. Whiten, A. 2000 Chimpanzees and mental re-representation. In Metarepresentations: a multidisciplinary perspective (ed. D. Sperber), pp. 139-167. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
73. Whiten, A. & Suddendorf, T. 2001 Meta-representation and secondary representation. Trends Cogn. Sci. 5, 378. (doi:10.1016/S1364- 6613(00)01734-4)
74. Zelazo, P. D., Jacques, S., Burack, J. & Frye, D. 2002 The relation between theory of mind and rule use: evidence from persons with autism-spectrum disorders. Infant Child Dev. 11, 171-195. (doi:10.1002/icd.304)