Automatic imitation is modulated by stimulus clarity but not by animacy.

ABSTRACT: Observing actions evokes an automatic imitative response that activates mechanisms required to execute these actions. Automatic imitation is measured using the Stimulus Response Compatibility (SRC) task, which presents participants with compatible and incompatible prompt-distractor pairs. Automatic imitation, or the compatibility effect, is the difference in response times (RTs) between incompatible and compatible trials. Past results suggest that an action's animacy affects automatic imitation: human-produced actions evoke larger effects than computer-generated actions. However, it appears that animacy effects occur mostly when non-human stimuli are less complex or less clear. Theoretical accounts make conflicting predictions regarding both stimulus manipulations. We conducted two SRC exp

SUBMITTER: Wilt H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11411005 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature