Corepresentation During Joint Action in Marmoset Monkeys (Callithrix jacchus)

Abstract

Behavioral coordination is a fundamental element of human cooperation. It is facilitated when individuals represent not only their own actions but also those of their partner. Identifying whether action corepresentation is unique to humans or also present in other species is therefore necessary to fully understand the evolution of human cooperation. We used the auditory joint Simon task to assess whether action corepresentation occurs in common marmosets, a monkey species that engages extensively in coordinated action during cooperative infant care. We found that marmosets indeed show a joint Simon effect. Furthermore, when coordinating their behavior in the joint task, they were more likely to look at their partner than in a joint control condition. Corepresentation is thus not unique to humans but also present in the cooperatively breeding marmosets. Since marmosets are small-brained monkeys, our results suggest that routine coordination in space and time, rather than complex cognitive abilities, plays a role in the evolution of corepresentation.