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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.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/j.1551-6709.2012.01252.x

Type

Journal article

Journal

Cogn Sci

Publication Date

05/2013

Volume

37

Pages

605 - 630

Keywords

Computer Simulation, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Mirror Neurons, Models, Neurological, Movement, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Space Perception