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Great apes distinguish true from false beliefs in an interactive helping task.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Buttelmann, D; Buttelmann, F; Carpenter, M; Call, J; Tomasello, M
Published in: PloS one
January 2017

Understanding the behavior of others in a wide variety of circumstances requires an understanding of their psychological states. Humans' nearest primate relatives, the great apes, understand many psychological states of others, for example, perceptions, goals, and desires. However, so far there is little evidence that they possess the key marker of advanced human social cognition: an understanding of false beliefs. Here we demonstrate that in a nonverbal (implicit) false-belief test which is passed by human 1-year-old infants, great apes as a group, including chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus), and orangutans (Pongo abelii), distinguish between true and false beliefs in their helping behavior. Great apes thus may possess at least some basic understanding that an agent's actions are based on her beliefs about reality. Hence, such understanding might not be the exclusive province of the human species.

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Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2017

Volume

12

Issue

4

Start / End Page

e0173793

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Pongo abelii
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Pan paniscus
  • Male
  • Infant
  • Humans
  • Hominidae
  • General Science & Technology
  • Female
 

Citation

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Buttelmann, D., Buttelmann, F., Carpenter, M., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2017). Great apes distinguish true from false beliefs in an interactive helping task. PloS One, 12(4), e0173793. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173793
Buttelmann, David, Frances Buttelmann, Malinda Carpenter, Josep Call, and Michael Tomasello. “Great apes distinguish true from false beliefs in an interactive helping task.PloS One 12, no. 4 (January 2017): e0173793. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173793.
Buttelmann D, Buttelmann F, Carpenter M, Call J, Tomasello M. Great apes distinguish true from false beliefs in an interactive helping task. PloS one. 2017 Jan;12(4):e0173793.
Buttelmann, David, et al. “Great apes distinguish true from false beliefs in an interactive helping task.PloS One, vol. 12, no. 4, Jan. 2017, p. e0173793. Epmc, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0173793.
Buttelmann D, Buttelmann F, Carpenter M, Call J, Tomasello M. Great apes distinguish true from false beliefs in an interactive helping task. PloS one. 2017 Jan;12(4):e0173793.

Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2017

Volume

12

Issue

4

Start / End Page

e0173793

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Pongo abelii
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Pan paniscus
  • Male
  • Infant
  • Humans
  • Hominidae
  • General Science & Technology
  • Female