On Thursday 24 May, Oliver Genschow (University of Cologne) visits Basel to speak in the SWE colloquium.

Let’s unravel the social chameleon: Investigations on the underlying processes of imitation

As the saying goes “monkey see, monkey do”, individuals have the tendency to automatically imitate others. Indeed, past research has shown that individuals imitate a wide range of different behaviors including speech patterns, movements, gestures and emotions. Such imitative behavior fulfills an important social function in the sense that it bonds human more strongly together by fostering liking, feelings of affiliation and pro-social behavior. Despite such research, the exact mechanisms underlying human imitation are still a matter of investigation. In order to shed light onto the mechanisms underlying imitation I focus on two main questions. First, is imitation a goal-based or a movement-based phenomenon? Second, is imitation a reactive, or rather a predictive phenomenon? With respect to the first question, I will present data suggesting that differences in psychological distance moderate the degree to which individuals imitate in a goal-based or movement-based manner. With respect to the second question, I will argue that imitation processes might already be initiated as soon as an observer can anticipate what another person is willing to do.