Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Psychology, Leipzig, Germany.
Cognition. 2010 Jun;115(3):426-34. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.03.003. Epub 2010 Mar 30.
There is strong evidence that we automatically simulate observed behavior in our motor system. Previous research suggests that this simulation process depends on whether we observe a human or a non-human agent. Measuring a motor priming effect, this study investigated the question of whether agent-sensitivity of motor simulation depends on the specific action observed. Participants saw pictures depicting end positions of different actions on a screen. All postures featured either a human or non-human agent. Participants had to produce the matching action with their left or right hand depending on the hand presented on the screen. Three different actions were displayed: a communicative action (emblem), a transitive (goal-directed) action and an intransitive action. We found motor priming effects of similar size for human and non-human agents for transitive and intransitive actions. However, the motor priming effect for communicative actions was present for the human agent, but absent for the non-human agent. These findings suggest that biological tuning of motor simulation is highly action-selective and depends on whether the observed behavior appears to be driven by a reasonable goal.
有强有力的证据表明，我们会在运动系统中自动模拟所观察到的行为。先前的研究表明，这种模拟过程取决于我们观察到的是人类还是非人类的行为者。通过测量运动启动效应，本研究探讨了运动模拟的行为者敏感性是否取决于所观察到的具体动作这一问题。参与者在屏幕上看到描绘不同动作的末端位置的图片。所有姿势都有人类或非人类的行为者。参与者根据屏幕上呈现的手，用左手或右手做出匹配的动作。展示了三种不同的动作：交际动作（象征）、传递动作（有目标导向的动作）和非传递动作。我们发现，对于传递动作和非传递动作，人类和非人类行为者的运动启动效应大小相似。然而，对于交际动作，人类行为者存在运动启动效应，而非人类行为者则不存在。这些发现表明，运动模拟的生物调节具有高度的动作选择性，并且取决于所观察到的行为是否看起来是由合理的目标驱动的。
