Processing negation may demonstrate compositionality in rhesus macaques.

Angelle Antoun, Rohini Murugan, Kathleen J Bostick, Benjamin Wilson

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Article in Cognition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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4 authors.

Angelle AntounDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

Rohini MuruganDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

Kathleen J BostickEmory National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

Benjamin WilsonDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address: benjamin.wilson@emory.edu.

Funding

Yerkes National Primate Research Center Role of type-I IFN in regulating COVID-19 induced inflammation and pathogenesisP51OD011132 · OD · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI Joon Sup Lee · 2012 to 2026

$167.0M

NIH HHS P51 OD011132

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Compositionality, the ability to flexibly combine meaningful words into higher-level representations, is a critical feature of human language. However, the evolutionary origins of compositional processing are unclear, and evidence for this ability in nonhuman primates is largely lacking. Compositionality is inherent in processing negative clauses, such as 'not red'. Here, we conducted a series of three experiments using a novel, nonlinguistic 'negation' paradigm, which provide evidence of compositional processing in nonhuman primates. Macaques learned to associate an abstract visual stimulus with the process of negation (i.e., 'not'), and to combine this compositionally with novel images (e.g., a dog) on a trial-by-trial basis (i.e., to select a stimulus that was not a dog). Our results suggest compositional processing in monkeys, raising the possibility that the core of this language-critical ability may be present in monkeys, and thus may not be unique to humans or to language.

Indexed as

LanguageMacaca mulattaAnimalsFemaleMalePhotic StimulationComparative cognitionCompositionalityLanguage evolutionMacaquesNegationPrimates

Identifiers

PMID42470862

DOI10.1016/j.cognition.2026.106638

PMCPMC13492442

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.