An empirical analysis of the methodology of automatic imitation research in a strategic context
Aczel, Balazs ; Kekecs, Zoltan LU
; Bago, Bence
; Szollosi, Aba
and Foldes, Andrei
(2015)
In Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
41(4).
p.1049-1062
- Abstract
Since the discovery of the mirror neuron system, it has been proposed that the automatic tendency to copy observed actions exists in humans and that this mechanism might be responsible for a range of social behavior. A strong argument for automatic behavior can be made when actions are executed against motivation to do otherwise. Strategic games in which imitation is disadvantageous serve as ideal designs for studying the automatic nature of participants' behavior. Most recently, Belot, Crawford, and Heyes (2013) conducted an explorative study using a modified version of the Rock-Paper-Scissors game, and suggested that in the case of asynchrony in the execution of the gestures, automatic imitation can be observed early on after the... (More)
Since the discovery of the mirror neuron system, it has been proposed that the automatic tendency to copy observed actions exists in humans and that this mechanism might be responsible for a range of social behavior. A strong argument for automatic behavior can be made when actions are executed against motivation to do otherwise. Strategic games in which imitation is disadvantageous serve as ideal designs for studying the automatic nature of participants' behavior. Most recently, Belot, Crawford, and Heyes (2013) conducted an explorative study using a modified version of the Rock-Paper-Scissors game, and suggested that in the case of asynchrony in the execution of the gestures, automatic imitation can be observed early on after the opponent's presentation. In our study, we video recorded the games, which allowed us to examine the effect of delay on imitative behavior as well as the sensitivity of the previously employed analyses. The examination of the recorded images revealed that more than 80% of the data were irrelevant to the study of automatic behavior. Additional bias in the paradigm became apparent, as previously presented gestures were found to affect the behavior of the players. After noise filtering, we found no evidence of automatic imitation in either the whole filtered data set or in selected time windows based on delay length. Besides questioning the strength of the results of previous analyses, we propose several experimental and statistical modifications for further research on automatic imitation.
(Less)
- author
- Aczel, Balazs
; Kekecs, Zoltan
LU
; Bago, Bence
; Szollosi, Aba
and Foldes, Andrei
- publishing date
- 2015-08-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Action control, Automatic imitation, Matching pennies game, Mirror neurons, Strategic context
- in
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
- volume
- 41
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 14 pages
- publisher
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84938210891
- pmid:26010594
- ISSN
- 0096-1523
- DOI
- 10.1037/xhp0000081
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- feac2a4e-08dd-4e44-94f9-66da86a3edd3
- date added to LUP
- 2017-03-27 15:52:47
- date last changed
- 2024-01-13 17:48:34
@article{feac2a4e-08dd-4e44-94f9-66da86a3edd3,
abstract = {{<p>Since the discovery of the mirror neuron system, it has been proposed that the automatic tendency to copy observed actions exists in humans and that this mechanism might be responsible for a range of social behavior. A strong argument for automatic behavior can be made when actions are executed against motivation to do otherwise. Strategic games in which imitation is disadvantageous serve as ideal designs for studying the automatic nature of participants' behavior. Most recently, Belot, Crawford, and Heyes (2013) conducted an explorative study using a modified version of the Rock-Paper-Scissors game, and suggested that in the case of asynchrony in the execution of the gestures, automatic imitation can be observed early on after the opponent's presentation. In our study, we video recorded the games, which allowed us to examine the effect of delay on imitative behavior as well as the sensitivity of the previously employed analyses. The examination of the recorded images revealed that more than 80% of the data were irrelevant to the study of automatic behavior. Additional bias in the paradigm became apparent, as previously presented gestures were found to affect the behavior of the players. After noise filtering, we found no evidence of automatic imitation in either the whole filtered data set or in selected time windows based on delay length. Besides questioning the strength of the results of previous analyses, we propose several experimental and statistical modifications for further research on automatic imitation.</p>}},
author = {{Aczel, Balazs and Kekecs, Zoltan and Bago, Bence and Szollosi, Aba and Foldes, Andrei}},
issn = {{0096-1523}},
keywords = {{Action control; Automatic imitation; Matching pennies game; Mirror neurons; Strategic context}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{1049--1062}},
publisher = {{American Psychological Association (APA)}},
series = {{Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance}},
title = {{An empirical analysis of the methodology of automatic imitation research in a strategic context}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000081}},
doi = {{10.1037/xhp0000081}},
volume = {{41}},
year = {{2015}},
}