CCN Forum: Cognition without language: The primate roots of human thought

Abstract:
Many domains of human thought—from social cognition to logical
reasoning—may draw on or be influenced by language. Given that, how do non-linguistic animals think? Comparative research examining the minds of our closest primate relatives is uniquely positioned to provide new insights into the cognitive consequences of language. I will synthesize research on social attention, metacognition, and decision-making across different primate species to address shared versus unique components of the human mind.