Evidence for a we-representation in monkeys when acting together

Abstract

A hallmark of human evolution resides in the ability to adapt our actions to those of others. This aptitude optimizes collective behavior, allowing to achieve goals unattainable by acting alone. We have previously shown that macaque monkeys are able to coordinate their actions when engaged in dyadic contexts, therefore they offer a good model to study the roots of joint action. Here, we analyze the behavior of five macaques required to perform visuomotor isometric tasks, either individually or together with a partner. By pre-cueing or not the future action condition (SOLO or TOGETHER) we investigated the existence of a 'We-representation' in monkeys. We found that pre-instructing the action context improves the dyadic performance, thanks to the emergence of an optimal kinematic setting, that facilitates inter-individual motor coordination. Our results offer empirical evidence of a 'We-representation' in macaques, that when evoked provides an overall beneficial effect on joint performance.

Keywords: Action planning; Inter-individual coordination; Joint-action; Social interactions; We-mode.