Citation needed. This is a specific question (do chimps model the minds of other chimps?) that cognitive scientists have considered in detail. But I don’t remember specific studies or conclusions.
I don’t have a reference ready, but I remember this from a book by Frans de Waal (probably “Chimpanzee Politics”—or maybe it was mentioned here):
Several primate species live in societies where only the Alpha male has reproduction rights—which doesn’t mean the other males don’t fool around when the Alpha isn’t watching; and if the Alpha catches them, they will grovel and beg for mercy.
If a non-Alpha baboon mates while the Alpha is away, and then encounters the Alpha (who has no idea what happened), it will also grovel and beg for mercy—“Please don’t hit me sir!”. However, if a non-Alpha chimp does the same, when it encounters the Alpha it will pretend nothing happened—“Morning sir, hope all’s fine sir!”. That seems to indicate that chimps are better at modeling others than baboons are.
(some details are probably wrong, I’m not sure it was baboons)
Citation needed. This is a specific question (do chimps model the minds of other chimps?) that cognitive scientists have considered in detail. But I don’t remember specific studies or conclusions.
I don’t have a reference ready, but I remember this from a book by Frans de Waal (probably “Chimpanzee Politics”—or maybe it was mentioned here):
Several primate species live in societies where only the Alpha male has reproduction rights—which doesn’t mean the other males don’t fool around when the Alpha isn’t watching; and if the Alpha catches them, they will grovel and beg for mercy.
If a non-Alpha baboon mates while the Alpha is away, and then encounters the Alpha (who has no idea what happened), it will also grovel and beg for mercy—“Please don’t hit me sir!”. However, if a non-Alpha chimp does the same, when it encounters the Alpha it will pretend nothing happened—“Morning sir, hope all’s fine sir!”. That seems to indicate that chimps are better at modeling others than baboons are.
(some details are probably wrong, I’m not sure it was baboons)
“Empathy” is a useful keyword here—so see, for example:
Chimps Not So Selfish: Comforting Behavior May Well Be Expression Of Empathy.
Empathy is pretty basic for social mammals—e.g.see: Dogs Probably Feel Sorry For Us.