The Imitative Mind: Development, Evolution and Brain Bases

Front Cover
Andrew N. Meltzoff, Wolfgang Prinz
Cambridge University Press, Apr 18, 2002 - Psychology - 353 pages
Imitation guides the behaviour of a range of species. Scientific advances in the study of imitation at multiple levels from neurons to behaviour have far-reaching implications for cognitive science, neuroscience, and evolutionary and developmental psychology. This volume, first published in 2002, provides a summary of the research on imitation in both Europe and America, including work on infants, adults, and nonhuman primates, with speculations about robotics. A special feature of the book is that it provides a concrete instance of the links between developmental psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. It showcases how an interdisciplinary approach to imitation can illuminate long-standing problems in the brain sciences, including consciousness, self, perception-action coding, theory of mind, and intersubjectivity. The book addresses what it means to be human and how we get that way.

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Contents

An introduction to the imitative mind and brain
1
Part I Developmental and evolutionary approaches to imitation
17
Part II Cognitive approaches to imitation body scheme and perceptionaction coding
141
Part III Neuroscience underpinnings of imitation and apraxia
245
Index
347
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