In: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
Published online: 11 August 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/bct.112.13myo
https://doi.org/10.1075/bct.112.13myo
Abstract
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.
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
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