title: It takes two to imitate: anticipation and imitation in social interaction.
abstract: Imitation is assumed to serve crucial functions in social interaction, such as empathy and learning, yet these functions apply only to the imitating observer. In the two experiments reported here, we revealed a distinct function of imitation for the action model: Anticipation of being imitated facilitates the production of overt motor actions. Specifically, anticipated motor responses of social counterparts serve as mental cues for the model to retrieve corresponding motor commands to orchestrate his or her own actions.
authors.affiliation: 1University of Würzburg.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfister
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dignath
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hommel
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kunde
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012919:Social Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: motor processes; social behavior; social interaction