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Part of
How the Brain Got Language – Towards a New Road Map
Edited by Michael A. Arbib
[Benjamins Current Topics 112] 2020
► pp. 183–199

The evolutionary roots of human imitation, action understanding and symbols

| Kyoto University

This paper focuses on how human complex imitation and its developmental processes are related to the abilities for action representation, acquisition of symbols, and language. After overviewing the characteristics of imitation in chimpanzees and humans, I propose a model of imitation emphasizing how these two species differ in the ways they process visual-motor information. These differences may in turn contribute to core interspecies differences in higher-order cognitive functions, not only for bodily imitation but for action understanding through complex referential information from faces, sharing symbols, and language. This ‘developmental-comparative’ approach reveals the development of species-specific intelligences, and shows what is shared and not shared between humans and other primates. In doing so, we can obtain a more complete understanding of the emergence of the ‘language-ready brain’ in relation to its biological and evolutionary foundations.

Keywords: imitation, chimpanzees, humans, development, visual-motor information processing, gestures, referential information, faces, symbols
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: The evolutionary foundation of human bodily imitation and language
    • 1.1Imitation focusing on objects and body movements in humans and chimpanzees
    • 1.2Cultural differences of gestures in wild chimpanzees
    • 1.3Social learning via shared body sensory experiences with others
  • 2.Ontogeny and mechanisms of complex imitation in humans
  • 3.Understanding actions by using referential information from faces
  • 4.Toward a new road map
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 11 August 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/bct.112.13myo
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