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8 - The Control of Shared Representations and Social Cognition

from Part II - Imitation and Mimicry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2016

By
Lara Bardi  and
Marcel Brass
Edited by
Sukhvinder S. Obhi  and
Emily S. Cross
Sukhvinder S. Obhi
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Ontario
Emily S. Cross
Affiliation:
Bangor University
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Summary

Abstract

Evidence from cognitive psychology and neuroscience has been accumulated suggesting that perception and execution of action are tightly linked. The observation of an action leads to a direct activation of the corresponding motor representation in the observer, suggesting that perception and action rely on a ‘shared representational system’. Moreover, the observation of an action can lead to automatic imitation. However, if perception and action can lead to the concurrent activation of different motor plans, a fundamental problem is how we are able to distinguish between motor representations that have been internally generated by our own intention and those that have been triggered by observing others’ actions. In other words, how can we avoid automatic imitation? In the present chapter, we will report recent evidence suggesting that a crucial component of such shared representation systems is self–other distinction and that the control of shared representations involves brain areas that constitute key nodes in high-level socio-cognitive processes such as agency attribution, perspective taking and mentalizing.

Type
Chapter
Information
Shared Representations
Sensorimotor Foundations of Social Life
 , pp. 151 - 170
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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