Apes can anticipate correctly that humans seek a hidden element in a specific place, even monkeys know that the item is no longer there.
The results of a study published in Science show that monkeys can grasp what others think, even when it is different from their own knowledge, show that non – human primates can recognize what others believe, your desires and intentions, a phenomenon called “theory of mind” (TM), which is generally believed as the only facet of human beings.
Several behavioral experiments to date have suggested that apes can predict the behavior is not simply based on external signals, but also in understanding the perceptions and knowledge of others.
However, it was unclear whether the apes understand the most complex mental states related to TM, such as false beliefs. Here, Christopher Krupenye, Duke University, and colleagues studied three different species of monkey -chimpancés, bonobos and orangutans as they watched short videos on a monitor to track your eyes noninvasively using infrared vision crawlers.
The monkeys watched a human being hid an object in one place and then move the object by an actor in a game of King Kong to a second position, while the person was present or absent. In both situations, the object was then removed completely before the person back to get him.
In the scenario where humans did not observe the relocation of the object, eye-tracking data revealed that 17 of the 22 monkeys correctly anticipated that man would move to the wrong location to find the object. The correct anticipation of the Apes that humans expected that the object was suggested that understand the perspective of that person.
