In this paper, I discuss the nature of the cognitive processes underlying our attributions of mental states to nonhuman animals. In the traditional view, we have only indirect access to the mental states of others, which must be inferred on the basis of behavior. This traditional conception informs both conceptual debates about animal minds and empirical research on animal cognition. However, recent work on human social cognition has instead put forward an “interactionist” view, according to which mental states can sometimes be directly perceived in behavior. In this paper I apply the interactionist view to the attribution of mental states to animals. I conclude that this view better accounts for common sense attitudes toward animal mental states and is more fruitful for empirical research on animal cognition than the traditional view.