Are automatic imitation and spatial compatibility mediated by different processes?

Journal article

Automatic imitation or "imitative compatibility" is thought to be mediated by the mirror neuron system and to be a laboratory model of the motor mimicry that occurs spontaneously in naturalistic social interaction. Imitative compatibility and spatial compatibility effects are known to depend on different stimulus dimensions-body movement topography and relative spatial position. However, it is not yet clear whether these two types of stimulus-response compatibility effect are mediated by the same or different cognitive processes. We present an interactive activation model of imitative and spatial compatibility, based on a dual-route architecture, which substantiates the view they are mediated by processes of the same kind. The model, which is in many ways a standard application of the interactive activation approach, simulates all key results of a recent study by Catmur and Heyes (2011). Specifically, it captures the difference in the relative size of imitative and spatial compatibility effects; the lack of interaction when the imperative and irrelevant stimuli are presented simultaneously; the relative speed of responses in a quintile analysis when the imperative and irrelevant stimuli are presented simultaneously; and the different time courses of the compatibility effects when the imperative and irrelevant stimuli are presented asynchronously.

Authors: Cooper, R; Catmur, C; Heyes, C

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Cognitive science
• Volume: 37
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 605-630
• Publication date: 2013-01-01
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2012.01252.x
• EISSN: 1551-6709
• ISSN: 0364-0213
• Language: English
• Keywords: Models, Neurological; Psychomotor Performance; Space Perception; Mirror Neurons; Computer Simulation; Reaction Time; Movement; Humans; Imitative Behavior