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Information about Imitation

For the musical term, see .


Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's. The word can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to international politics.

In anthropology, diffusion theories explain why cultures imitate the ideas or practices of other cultures. Some theories hold that all cultures imitate ideas from one or a few original cultures, the Adam of the Bible, or several cultural circles that overlap. Evolutionary diffusion theory holds that cultures are influenced by one another, but that similar ideas can be developed in isolation.

In music, it refers to the repetition of a phrase played on one instrument or voice by another.

In mid-20th century, social scientists began to study how and why people imitate ideas. Everett Rogers pioneered diffusion of innovations studies, using research to prove factors in adoption and profiles of adopters of ideas.

Recent work in neuroscience has begun to reveal the neural mechanisms underlying imitation learning. A system of mirror neurons has been discovered in macaque monkeys. When a monkey saw another monkey act, neurons in the parietal and frontal cortex were activated, and same neurons were activated when the monkey did the same action for itself.[1][2]. However, it is not clear if macaques spontaneously imitate each other in the wild. fMRI evidence suggests that mirror neuron mechanisms are also activated when humans imitate another person's action [3]. Neurologist V.S. Ramachandran argues that the evolution of mirror neurons were important in the human acquisition of complex skills such as language and believes mirror neurons to be a most important advanced in neuroscience.[4]

It has been argued by Susan Blackmore in The Meme Machine, that imitation is what makes humans unique among animals. Imitation might have been selected as fit by evolution because those who were good at it had a wider arsenal of learned cultural behavior at their disposal, such as tool making or even language.

References

1. ^ Giacomo Rizzolatti et al. (1996). Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions, Cognitive Brain Research 3 131-141
2. ^ Rizzolatti G., Craighero L., The mirror-neuron system, Annual Review of Neuroscience. 2004;27:169-92
3. ^ Marco Iacoboni, Roger P. Woods, Marcel Brass, Harold Bekkering, John C. Mazziotta, Giacomo Rizzolatti, Cortical Mechanisms of Human Imitation, Science 286:5449 (1999)
4. ^ V.S. Ramachandran, Mirror Neurons and imitation learning as the driving force behind "the great leap forward" in human evolution. Edge Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.

See also

Further reading

  • Zentall, T.R. (2006). Imitation: Definitions, evidence, and mechanisms. Animal Cognition, 9, 335-353. Full text
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Behavior or behaviour
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Animal training refers to teaching animals to perform specific acts in response to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, or entertainment.
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International relations, a branch of political science, is the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and
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Anthropology (from Greek: ἄνθρωπος, anthropos, "human being"; and λόγος, logos, "speech" lit. to talk about human beings) is the study of humanity.
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The term 'diffusion' or diffusionism is used in cultural anthropology to describe the spread of cultural items — such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies, etc. — between individuals, whether within a single culture or from one culture to another.
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Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significant importance.
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IDEA may refer to:
  • Electronic Directory of the European Institutions
  • IDEA Center
  • IDEA League
  • Ieros Desmos Ellinon Axiomatikon
  • Improvement and Development Agency
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  • Indian Distance Education Association

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Adam (Standard Hebrew אָדָם, masculine proper noun;[1][2][3] Arabic آدم) was the first man created by God according to Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions.
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The Bible is
  • Part of
(see The Hebrew Bible below)
  • Part of a series on Christianity
(see The New Testament below)


Bible
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A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. In principle anything that, produces sound, and can somehow be controlled by a person playing it, can serve as a musical instrument.
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Everett M. Rogers (1931 in Carroll, Iowa - Albuquerque, New Mexico, 21 October 2004), communications scholar, pioneer of diffusion of innovations theory, writer, and teacher. He is best known for his 'diffusion of innovations' theory and introducing the term 'early adopter.
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The study of the diffusion of innovation is the study of how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures.

This research topic began in the 1950s at the University of Chicago with funding from television producers who sought a way to measure the
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Neuroscience is a field that is devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system. Such studies may include the structure, function, evolutionary history, development, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, and pathology of the nervous system.
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A mirror neuron is a neuron which fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another (especially conspecific) animal. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself acting.
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Macaca
Lacepede, 1799

Type species
Simia inuus
Linnaeus, 1758 = Simia sylvanus Linnaeus, 1758

Species
See text.

The macaques (IPA: /məˈkak/
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The parietal lobe is a lobe in the brain. It is positioned above (superior to) the occipital lobe and behind (posterior to) the frontal lobe.

The parietal lobe integrates sensory information from different modalities, particularly determining spatial sense and navigation.
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The frontal lobe is an area in the brain of mammals. Located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere, frontal lobes are positioned in front of (anterior to) the parietal lobes. The temporal lobes are located beneath and behind the frontal lobes.
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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the use of MRI to measure the haemodynamic response related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans or other animals. It is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging.
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Vilayanur S. Ramachandran

Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran on an episode of PBS's NOVA Television program.
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Susan Jane Blackmore (born 29 July, 1951) is an English freelance writer, lecturer, and broadcaster on psychology and the paranormal, perhaps best known for her book The Meme Machine.

Career

In 1973, Susan Blackmore graduated from St.
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The Meme Machine

Author Susan Blackmore
Subject(s) Memetics
Publisher Oxford University Press
Publication date April 2000
Media type Print
Pages 264
ISBN ISBN 0-19-286212-X

The Meme Machine
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Cognitive imitation is a type of imitation and a type of social learning. Cognitive imitation, like the imitation of motor rules (i.e., motor imitation), involves learning and copying specific rules by observation.
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mimicry (also known as mimetism) describes a situation where one organism, the mimic, has evolved to share common outward characteristics with another organism, the model, through the selective action of a signal-receiver or "dupe".
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