Primates, human and non-human alike, have large brains with large neocortices. It has been suggested that primates owe their large brains to the increased social demands of large groups. Within the last 40 years, much research has been done on the socio-cognitive abilities of primates, and since Premack & Woodruff (1978) first coined the term “theory of mind”, many laboratory experiments have been conducted on human and non-human primates’ ability to attribute mental states to others. In the present paper, most of these experiments with non-human primates and a representative part with human children were reviewed. Differences and similarities between human and non-human primate theory of mind were discussed within an evolutionary framework with a special emphasis on enculturation in which non-human primate individuals are hypothesized to develop more advanced socio-cognitive capacities than their conspecifics by living in intimate, extensive contact with humans from an early age.

Target article
Jill Byrnit: Primate theory of mind: A state-of-the-art review

Commentaries
James R. Anderson: Looking into primate theory of mind.
Simon Baron-Cohen: Mindreading: evidence for both innate and acquired factors.
Christine A. Caldwell: Competition, Cooperation and Social Cognition in Nonhuman Primates.
Joseph Call: Can the chimpanzee mind be upgraded?
Niels Engelsted: Humans are apes, only they know.
Henrik Høgh-Olesen: Gaze following and shared attention: Limitations for the story telling primate and relevant experimental conditions for its relatives.
Peter Krøjgaard: Comparative psychology, developmental psychology, and methodology.
Simo Køppe: Too early birth.
Philippe Rochat: What does it mean to be human?
Erik Schultz: Do you mind?

Reply
Jill Byrnit: Author’s response