Parsimonious explanations and wider evolutionary consequences.
The uncertainty response adds an important new dimension to conventional animal learning and memory studies. Although the uncertainty response by monkeys and dolphins resembled that of humans, parsimony alone does not necessarily indicate that the monkeys and dolphins had a full self-awareness. However, the uncertain response may be an index of an evolutionary precursor to full self-awareness of uncertainty and a theory of mind.
King
James E
JE
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 kingj@u.arizona.edu.