Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Assessment of Social Cognition in Non-human Primates Using a Network of Computerized Automated Learning Device ALDM Test Systems
Published on: May 5, 2015
[Art, mourning, and culture: New frontiers in primate cognition]
1Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), UMR 7178 CNRS - Université de Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France - Institut Universitaire de France (IUF).
Abstract:
For centuries, the question of human uniqueness has fueled scientific and philosophical debates. Humans have often been portrayed as singular beings endowed with abstract abilities such as tool use (Homo habilis), economic reasoning and theory of mind (Homo economicus), aesthetic sensibility (Homo aestheticus), or awareness of death and spirituality (Homo deus). However, advances in ethology and evolutionary anthropology have uncovered in non-human species behaviors once thought to be exclusively human. This paper explores three of these domains - culture, mourning, and art - through a comparative approach across human and non-human primates. By examining mechanisms of social transmission, behavioral expressions related to death, and graphic productions such as drawing, we discuss cognitive continuities between species, methodological challenges (notably anthropomorphism), and the broader implications for redefining the boundary between nature and culture. Our findings suggest that rather than representing absolute distinctions, these capacities reveal shared evolutionary roots of cognition, emotion, and creativity across the primate lineage.
Related Concept Videos
The Role of Culture
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Nonconscious Mimicry
Cognition and Behavior
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Evolutionary Psychology

