The Imitative Mind: Development, Evolution and Brain Bases

by Andrew N. Meltzoff (Editor), Wolfgang Prinz (Editor)

Overview

Modern research demonstrates that imitation is more complex and interesting than classical theories proposed. Monkeys do not imitate whereas humans are prolific imitators. This book provides an analysis of empirical work on imitation and shows how much can be learned through interdisciplinary research ranging from cells to individuals, apes to men, and babies to adults. Covering diverse perspectives on a great puzzle of human psychology, the book is multidisciplinary in its approach to revealing how and why we imitate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521806855
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/18/2002
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Cognitive and Perceptual Development , #6
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)
Lexile:	1390L (what's this?)

About the Author

Andrew N. Meltzoff studied psychology at Harvard and Oxford (D. Phil. 1976). He has been a full professor at the University of Washington since 1988. In 2000 he was named Director of the UW Center for Mind, Brain and Learning. Meltzoff is the recipient of a National Institute of Health Merit Award for outstanding research. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and a foreign member of the Norwegian National Academy of Science and Letters. He is the co-author of Words, Thoughts and Theories (1997) and The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us about the Mind (1999).

Wolfgang Prinz studied Psychology, Philosophy and Zoology at the University of Muenster, Germany. He took his Ph.D. in 1970 at the Dept. of Psychology at the University of Bielefeld (1975–1990) and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (1990–1998). Since 1990 he is the Director at the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Munich. He has published empirical and theoretical work on perception, action, consciousness and attention as well as on the history of psychology.

Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction and Overview: 1. An interdisciplinary introduction to the imitative mind and brain Wolfgang Prinz and Andrew N. Meltzoff; Part II. Developmental and Evolutionary Approaches to Imitation: 2. Building blocks for a developmental theory of imitation Andrew N. Meltzoff; 3. Imitation and imitation recognition: functional use in preverbal infants and nonverbal children with autism Jacqueline Nadel; 4. Self-awareness, other-awareness, and secondary representation Jens B. Asendorpf; 5. Notes on individual differences and the assumed elusiveness of neonatal imitation Mikael Heimann; 6. Ego function of early imitation Philippe Rochat; 7. The imitator's representation of the imitated: ape and child A. Whiten; 8. Seeing actions as hierarchically organised structures: great ape manual skills Richard W. Byrne; Part III. Cognitive Approaches to Imitation, Body Scheme, and Perception-action Coding: 9. Experimental approaches to imitation Wolfgang Prinz; 10. Imitation: common mechanisms in the observation and execution of finger and mouth movements Harold Bekkering; 11. Goal-directed imitation Merideth Gattis, Harold Bekkering and Andreas Wolschläger; 12. Visuomotor couplings in object-orientated and imitative actions Stefan Vogt; 13. On bodies and events Barbara Tversky, Julie Bauer Morrison and Jeff Zacks; 14. What is the body schema? Catherine L. Reed; Part IV. Neuroscience Underpinnings of Imitation and Apraxia: 15. From mirror neurons to imitation: facts and speculations Giacomo Rizzolatti, Luciano Fadiga, Leonardo Fogassi and Vittorio Gallese; 16. Cell populations in the banks of the superior temporal sulcus of the macaque and imitation T. Jellema, C. I. Baker, M. W. Oram and D. I. Perrett; 17. Is there such a thing as a functional equivalence between imagined, observed, and executed action? Jean Decety; 18. The role of imitation in body ownership and mental growth Marcel Kinsbourne; 19. Imitation, apraxia, and hemisphere dominance Georg Goldenberg and Joachim Hermsdörfer.

Editorial Reviews

European and US psychologists attending a March 1999 conference at Kloster Seeon in Bavaria present 18 papers on developmental and evolutionary approaches to imitation; cognitive approaches to imitations, body scheme, and perception-action coding; and neuroscience underpinnings of imitation and apraxia. They focus on imitation at the level of individual behavior, short-lived imitative acts, and the functional architecture of how imitation is accomplished at the psychological and neuro-physiological levels. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Review of the hardback: 'Most of the book's merit is in the chapters themselves, most of which are skillfully written such that their relevance goes beyond the limits of the discipline at hand and illuminates issues relevant to neighboring disciplines as well. The two editors are leading figures in the fields of developmental and experimental psychology, and their respective research contributions blend well conceptually.' Nature Neuroscience

Review of the hardback: 'Despite the variety of disciplines and viewpoints represented, the editors, Meltzoff and Prinz, were able to foster a strong sense of coherency by encouraging the authors to make strategic cross-references to each other's papers. Without exception the essays are rich in empirical data. Experiments are viewed, and in a few cases previously unpublished experiments are discussed.' Infant and Child Development

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