Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences Research Department, University College London, London W1H 0AP, UK.
Proc Biol Sci. 2012 Feb 22;279(1729):780-6. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.1024. Epub 2011 Jul 20.
A compelling body of evidence indicates that observing a task-irrelevant action makes the execution of that action more likely. However, it remains unclear whether this 'automatic imitation' effect is indeed automatic or whether the imitative action is voluntary. The present study tested the automaticity of automatic imitation by asking whether it occurs in a strategic context where it reduces payoffs. Participants were required to play rock-paper-scissors, with the aim of achieving as many wins as possible, while either one or both players were blindfolded. While the frequency of draws in the blind-blind condition was precisely that expected at chance, the frequency of draws in the blind-sighted condition was significantly elevated. Specifically, the execution of either a rock or scissors gesture by the blind player was predictive of an imitative response by the sighted player. That automatic imitation emerges in a context where imitation reduces payoffs accords with its 'automatic' description, and implies that these effects are more akin to involuntary than to voluntary actions. These data represent the first evidence of automatic imitation in a strategic context, and challenge the abstraction from physical aspects of social interaction typical in economic and game theory.
大量证据表明，观察与任务无关的动作会使执行该动作的可能性增加。然而，目前尚不清楚这种“自动模仿”效应是否确实是自动的，或者模仿动作是否是自愿的。本研究通过询问自动模仿是否发生在会降低收益的策略性情境中来检验其自动性。参与者需要玩石头剪刀布游戏，目的是尽可能多地获胜，而其中一个或两个玩家都蒙住眼睛。在盲-盲条件下，平局的频率与随机预期完全一致，而在盲-视条件下，平局的频率明显升高。具体来说，盲玩家执行石头或剪刀手势可预测有视力的玩家做出模仿反应。模仿在降低收益的情境中出现，这符合其“自动”的描述，这意味着这些效应更类似于非自愿行为，而不是自愿行为。这些数据代表了在策略性情境中自动模仿的首个证据，并且挑战了经济和博弈论中典型的从社会互动的物理方面抽象出来的观点。
