Cited by 183Action Observation and SynchronizationSocial Robot Interaction and HRISocial and Intergroup Psychology

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 39 of the 43 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 38 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Social attitudes modulate automatic imitation

Open access
Leighton, Jane, Bird, Geoffrey, Orsini, Caitlin, Heyes, Cecilia·2010·Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This study tested whether social attitudes directly and specifically modulate automatic imitation. Pro-social priming produced a larger automatic imitation effect than anti-social priming, suggesting a bidirectional relationship between mimicry and social attitudes.

Key findings

  • Priming group affected automatic imitation: ANOVA \(F(2,34)=4.042, p<0.027\); the pro-social group showed a significantly larger automatic imitation effect than the anti-social group, \(F(1,22)=6.148, p<0.022\), with a significant linear trend across groups, \(p<0.008\) (pro-social > neutral > anti-social).
  • Table 2 reports mean RTs: pro-social compatible 313.3 ms vs incompatible 351.3 ms; neutral 289.5 ms vs 315.1 ms; anti-social/non-social 371.0 ms vs 385.3 ms.
  • Debriefing indicated no participant correctly guessed the purpose of either experiment, identified a link between the studies, or identified a theme among the priming words.
  • The authors conclude the effect was direct and specific, not attributable to attention, effector priming, or stimulus enhancement, and that the modulated mimicry was counter-intentional.

Methods

  • Thirty-six healthy right-handed participants (mean age 31.3 years, 20 male) were randomly assigned to pro-social, neutral, or anti-social scrambled-sentence priming.
  • Participants then completed a stimulus-response compatibility automatic imitation task: they made a pre-specified open or close hand response to open or close hand movement stimuli, with compatible and incompatible trials; RT was measured via EMG from the first dorsal interosseus.
  • The automatic imitation effect was calculated as incompatible RT minus compatible RT, and analyzed with ANOVA using priming group as a between-subjects factor and mean RT as a covariate, plus contrasts and a linear trend test.

Limitations

  • Stated: further experiments are needed to establish whether social attitudes modulate mimicry via an inhibitory route, whether the relevant inhibitory mechanisms are task-general or specifically social, and whether the neutral group’s intermediate effect reflects baseline changes in inhibition.
  • Evident: the sample was small (\(N=36\)), and the study used only pro-/anti-social word priming with an isolated hand on a screen rather than live social interaction, limiting generalizability.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.001

Cites

39 of 39 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

18 Own interpretation · 14 No full text of the sources · 9 Own method · 8 Not checked yet · 7 Own result · 4 No basis given · 2 Sources not found

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 17
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 21
34 of 34
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The scrambled-sentence task with the selected words effectively induces pro-social, neutral, or anti-social attitudes.

    “Three versions of the scrambled-sentence test were constructed: One was intended to prime the pro-social attitude, another the anti-social attitude and a third was intended to prime neither attitude (the neutral priming condition).”
1 of 1

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • ConsistentF(2, 34) = 4.042reported p < .027 · recomputed p = .027

    “F(2,34) = 4.042, p < .027”

  • ConsistentF(1, 22) = 6.148reported p < .022 · recomputed p = .021

    “F(1,22) = 6.148, p < .022”

2 of 2

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

Show all 43 references

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. van Baaren RB Holland RW Karremans JC & van Knippenberg A (in press) Increasing interpersonal closeness through mimicry.

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Metadata

Authors
Leighton, J., Bird, G., Orsini, C., & Heyes, C.
Affiliations
University College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Bird, Geoffrey
Venue
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-11
Volume
46
Issue
6
Pages
905-910
ISSN
0022-1031 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2010996155
Cited by
181
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 10
FWCI
9.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Keywords
automatic imitation, mimicry, social attitudes, stimulus-response compatibility, electromyography, reaction time, interpersonal liking, affiliation, cooperation

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