Abstract What factors affect imitation performance? Varying theories of imitation stress the role of experience, but few studies have explicitly tested its role in imitative learning in non-human primates. We tested several predictions regarding the role of experience, conspecific presence, and action compatibility using a stimulus–response compatibility protocol. Nineteen baboons separated into two experimental groups […]

Abstract We argue that pretense can be viewed as analogical projection: a structural comparison between the pretend scenario and its real-world counterpart that leads to inferences about the pretend scenario. For example, in pretending to make a phone call with a banana, a number pad might be projected on the banana’s surface. We model two […]