Definition
Using someone as a model for one’s own actions
Introduction
Scientific interest in imitation and mimicry in the animal kingdom goes back at least to the times of Darwin. The debate on the cognitive aspects of imitation, however, is more recent. Influenced by serial sensory-motor, stimulus-response models of perception-action coupling, the cognitive mechanisms that make imitation possible were initially framed as the “correspondence problem.” That is, how does retino-centric, visual information about the actions of other people get translated in body-centered information that the imitator uses to copy the observed action? The correspondence problem, and the model of perception-action coupling that inspires it, obviously assumes no shared representations (or codes) between perceptual inputs and motor outputs. A longtime alternative model to the sensory-motor model of perception-action coupling is the ideomotor model (Hommel et al. 2001)....
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(6), 893–910. Retrieved from PubMed.
Cross, K. A., & Iacoboni, M. (2013). Optimized neural coding? Control mechanisms in large cortical networks implemented by connectivity changes. Human Brain Mapping, 34(1), 213–225. doi:10.1002/hbm.21428.
Cross, K. A., & Iacoboni, M. (2014). To imitate or not: Avoiding imitation involves preparatory inhibition of motor resonance. NeuroImage. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.01.027.
Cross, K. A., Torrisi, S., Losin, E. A., & Iacoboni, M. (2013). Controlling automatic imitative tendencies: Interactions between mirror neuron and cognitive control systems. NeuroImage. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.06.060.
Gallese, V., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., & Rizzolatti, G. (1996). Action recognition in the premotor cortex. Brain, 119(2), 593. Retrieved from Google Scholar.
Holbrook, C., Izuma, K., Deblieck, C., Fessler, D. M., & Iacoboni, M. (2015). Neuromodulation of group prejudice and religious belief. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. doi:10.1093/scan/nsv107.
Hommel, B., Müsseler, J., Aschersleben, G., & Prinz, W. (2001). The theory of event coding (TEC): A framework for perception and action planning. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(5), 849–878; discussion 878–937. Retrieved from PubMed.
Iacoboni, M. (2009). Imitation, empathy, and mirror neurons. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 653–670. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163604.
Iacoboni, M. (2011). The mirror neuron system and imitation. In D. Amaral, D. Geschwind, & G. Dawson (Eds.), Autism spectrum disorders (pp. 999–1009). New York: Oxford University Press.
Miles, L. K., Griffiths, J. L., Richardson, M. J., & Macrae, C. N. (2010). Too late to coordinate: Contextual influences on behavioral synchrony. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(1), 52–60.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Iacoboni, M. (2016). Imitation and Mimicry. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3336-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3336-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences