Abstract
Social cognition covers a wide range of abilities such as empathy, joint attention, intentions, the understanding of beliefs and other mental states, cooperation, moral judgements, and the capacity for altruism. Hermann et al compared chimpanzees and orang-utans with children of two-and-a-half years old on six aspects of social cognition — space, quantities, causality, social learning, communication, and theory of mind — and found that the children surpassed the chimpanzees and orang-utans on five out of the six tests that they were presented with. This chapter discuses the specialized ability of the human brain to perform social cognition functions and explores several explanations for the limited ability of apes to carry out social cognition functions despite having the same ancestry and sharing certain physical attributes.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
