Automatic imitation in a strategic context: players of rock-paper-scissors imitate opponents%26apos; gestures

作者：Cook Richard^*; Bird Geoffrey; Luenser Gabriele; Huck Steffen; Heyes Cecilia

来源：Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 2012, 279(1729): 780-786.

DOI：10.1098/rspb.2011.1024

• rock-paper-scissors
• zero-sum game
• automatic imitation
• game theory
• mirror neuron system

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 %26apos;automatic imitation%26apos; 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 %26apos;automatic%26apos; 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.

• 出版日期2012-2-22