The Imitative Mind

Imitation guides the behaviour of a range of species. Scientific advances in the study of imitation at multiple levels from neurons to behaviour have far-reaching implications for cognitive science neuroscience and evolutionary and developmental psychology. This volume first published in 2002 provides a summary of the research on imitation in both Europe and America including work on infants adults and nonhuman primates with speculations about robotics. A special feature of the book is that it provides a concrete instance of the links between developmental psychology neuroscience and cognitive science. It showcases how an interdisciplinary approach to imitation can illuminate long-standing problems in the brain sciences including consciousness self perception-action coding theory of mind and intersubjectivity. The book addresses what it means to be human and how we get that way.