“Theory of Mind in the Wild”

For decades, researchers have studied whether non-human primates have similar representational capacities as the human ability to infer others’ mental states, called theory of mind. While the majority of studies investigating non-human primate theory of mind have been conducted with captive populations, this review focuses on the insights gained from work with two naturally living populations: rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at the Cayo Santiago research station and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Budongo Forest. Not only have these two populations provided further evidence that non-human primates track the mental states of other agents, but also they have improved human understanding of the representational differences between human and non-human theory of mind, specifically in cases that involve tracking the perspective of others.