Investigations comparing humans and other social primates
allow researchers to better understand social cognitive
functions that are evolutionarily conserved, as well as those
that are unique to humans (Gosling and Graybeal 2007;
Shettleworth 2012; Tomasello and Call 1987). Studies of
comparative cognition are therefore clinically relevant for
autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is characterized by
deficits in both human-unique and evolutionarily conserved
aspects of social cognition. For example, theory of mind
(ToM), is a largely (if not uniquely) human cognitive
function (Call and Tomasello 2008; Penn et al. 2008) and is