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Motor simulation beyond the dyad: Can we mirror multiple agents simultaneously?

When: —
Venue: Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street

No booking required

Emilio Cracco, working with Prof Richard Cooper

Motor simulation beyond the dyad: Can we mirror multiple agents simultaneously?

Abstract

There is a large literature showing that people tend to mirror the actions they observe. This mirror mechanism is thought to play an important role in social interaction because it allows individuals to anticipate the actions of the persons with whom they are interacting. However, even though social interaction often involves multiple persons working together, most research hitherto has focused on dyadic interactions. As a result, little is currently known about the role of sensorimotor processes in social interactions where multiple agents are acting simultaneously (e.g., a football game). In my talk, I will argue that individuals are able to co-represent the actions of multiple agents in their motor system. More specifically, I will present evidence from research on automatic imitation and from research on action observation with TMS and fMRI that this is true not only when the agents perform identical actions but also when they perform different actions. I will furthermore present a computational model that can explain how this might be implemented and will link my findings to research in the domain of social contagion.

Biography

Emiel Cracco is a PhD student at Ghent University with Prof. Dr. Marcel Brass. His doctoral research focuses on the role of sensorimotor processes in social interactions that involve multiple persons acting together. In his work, he uses a multi-method approach in which he combines insights from behavioral research with insights from fMRI and TMS research. He is currently doing a research stay at Birkbeck with Prof. Dr. Rick Cooper to develop a computational model of his empirical findings.

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