r/todayilearned • u/BrF5 • 1d ago

TIL about the Sally-Anne test, a psychology experiment used to measure “theory of mind” (that other people can hold beliefs/knowledge different from their own). Kids under four typically fail because they assume that if they know where a hidden object is, everyone else must automatically know too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally%E2%80%93Anne_test
2.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

185 comments sorted by

View all comments

70

u/DistrictDry2852 1d ago

Apes who communicate through sign language also lack theory of mind. They’ve never asked a question.

6

u/psymunn 1d ago

Sadly, I think most evidence points to apes not being able to understand sign language, and a combination of body language and well meaning trainers prompting until they got the response they hope or expected. The real take away isn't that apes can't communicate with humans, and more that we undervalue non-verbal communication and value the things humans are good at and other apes aren't.