The evolution of mentalizing in humans and other primates

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Mentalizing, or theory of mind, is the ability to infer the mental states, such as desires and beliefs, that motivate others' actions. Mentalizing is fundamental to human social life, underpinning many of the forms of communication, cooperation, and culture that are likely unique to our species. But how did human mentalizing evolve? Comparative experiments with humans and other primates suggest that theory of mind has deep phylogenetic roots: its most basic foundations appear to be shared widely among primates while more sophisticated precursors are found only in our closer relatives, suggesting that they may have been present only in more recent common ancestors. Of course, still other features of human theory of mind have evolved uniquely in the human lineage, in the past 6-9 million years since we diverged from the other apes. Inter-and intra-specific studies suggest that mentalizing has likely evolved in response to the demands of competing and cooperating with others, with dietary and metabolic adaptations probably playing an important role as well. Future comparative work will continue to prove fruitful in determining exactly what it is about human mentalizing that makes us human and how it came to be.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationThe Neural Basis of Mentalizing
PublisherSpringer
Pages107-129
Number of pages23
ISBN (Electronic)9783030518905
ISBN (Print)9783030518899
DOIs
StatePublished - May 11 2021

Keywords

  • Ape
  • Cognitive evolution
  • Human evolution
  • Mind-reading
  • Monkey
  • Nonhuman
  • Perspective-taking
  • Primate
  • Social cognition
  • Theory of mind

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Psychology
  • General Medicine
  • General Neuroscience

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