Beliefs for human-unique social learning.
Hilary RichardsonPublished in: The Behavioral and brain sciences (2021)
Phillips et al. argue that understanding what others know is central to social cognition across species and that this understanding underlies human-unique accumulation and transmission of cultural knowledge. Knowledge representations can't be both what we have in common with our evolutionary ancestors and what sets us apart from them. Belief representations are necessary for human-unique social learning.