Monkeys Grasp a Sense of "Me"

Studies at the University of Buffalo, published in the journal "Biology Letters", demonstrate that monkeys possess enough self-awareness to recognize that their actions can cause certain outcomes.

Previous research has shown that rhesus monkeys, like apes and dolphins, have metacognition, or the ability to monitor their own mental states—but consistently fail to recognize themselves in a mirror, a more advanced step in "meing".

“We know that in humans, the sense of self-agency is closely related to self-awareness,” says Justin Couchman, a PhD cognitive psychologist at the University at Buffalo. “and that it results from monitoring the relationship between pieces of intentional, sensorimotor and perceptual information.

“Based on previous findings in comparative metacognition research, we thought that even though they fail the mirror test, rhesus monkeys might have some other form of self-awareness. In this study we looked at whether the monkeys have a sense of self agency, that is, the understanding that some actions are the consequence of their own intentions.”

For the study, 40 undergraduates and four male rhesus monkeys were trained to move a computer cursor with a joystick while a distractor cursor partially matched their movements. After moving the cursor, both humans and monkeys were asked to identify the computer cursor that they controlled—the one that matched their movements and intentions.

Both species were able to select the cursor they controlled from an array of choices, including the distractor cursor, at greater than chance levels.
“This suggests that the monkeys, like humans, have some understanding of self agency,” says Couchman. “This awareness or implicit sense that it is ‘me’ who is presently executing a bodily movement or thinking thoughts is an important form of self-awareness.”

This is the first such demonstration of self-agency in a species that has not passed the mirror self-recognition test.

"The concept of agency implies an active organism, one who desires, makes plans, and carries out actions...It is linked to metacognition, the first stages of self-awareness and theory of mind, TOM, (understanding the mental states of others). These abilities give humans the sense that they are entities separate from the external world..." says Couchman.