Early Emergence of Metacognition in Rhesus Monkeys.

ABSTRACT: Metacognition, or monitoring and controlling one's knowledge, is a key feature of human cognition. Accumulating evidence shows that foundational forms of metacognition are already present in young infants and then scaffold later-emerging skills. Although many animals exhibit cognitive processes relevant to metacognition, it is unclear if other species share the developmental trajectories seen in humans. Here, we examine the emergence of metacognitive information-seeking in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). We presented a large sample of semi-free-ranging monkeys, ranging from juvenility to adulthood, with a one-shot task where they could seek information about a food reward by bending down to peer into a center vantage point in an array of tubes. In the hidden condition, information-seeking

SUBMITTER: Huang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11951247 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature