The DOI matches its Crossref record; 110 of the 110 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Mimicry and automatic imitation are not correlated
Open accessAbstract
It is widely known that individuals have a tendency to imitate each other. However, different psychological disciplines assess imitation in different manners. While social psychologists assess mimicry by means of action observation, cognitive psychologists assess automatic imitation with reaction time based measures on a trial-by-trial basis. Although these methods differ in crucial methodological aspects, both phenomena are assumed to rely on similar underlying mechanisms. This raises the fundamental question whether mimicry and automatic imitation are actually correlated. In the present research we assessed both phenomena and did not find a meaningful correlation. Moreover, personality traits such as empathy, autism traits, and traits related to self- versus other-focus did not correlate with mimicry or automatic imitation either. Theoretical implications are discussed.
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“More recent work also showed a greater interference effect for female individuals compared with male individuals (Genschow et al., 2017), as well as greater error rates for predominantly female samples than male samples (Cracco et al., 2018).”
From Functional Specificity and Sex Differences in the Neural Circuits Supporting the Inhibition of Automatic Imitation (2018) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
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“Indeed, it is well-established in the literature that automatic imitation comprises both a facilitation and an interference effect (Brass et al., 2000;Cracco et al., 2015;Genschow et al., 2017).”
From Automatic imitation of multiple agents: A computational model (2019) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
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“Given that such a balance is well-grounded in the literature (Brass et al., 2000;Cracco et al., 2015;Genschow et al., 2017), this indicates that the model is robust under realistic circumstances.”
From Automatic imitation of multiple agents: A computational model (2019) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
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“However, more recent behavioural evidence suggests that imitation may not vary as a function of autistic-like traits or empathy, thus questioning the reliance of imitation inhibition on a distinctly social mechanism (Butler et al., 2015;Cracco et al., 2018;Genschow et al., 2017).”
From The inhibition of automatic imitation: a meta-analysis and synthesis of fMRI studies (2018) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
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“The imitation task used by Genschow and colleagues (2017) was controlled for left-right spatial compatibility by presenting the stimulus hand orthogonal to the response.”
From Functional Specificity and Sex Differences in the Neural Circuits Supporting the Inhibition of Automatic Imitation (2018) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
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In the citing paper
“Thus, in line with Simulation 2, these findings suggests that the model is robust under realistic circumstances (Brass et al., 2000;Cracco et al., 2015;Genschow et al., 2017).”
From Automatic imitation of multiple agents: A computational model (2019) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“However, even though empathy has been associated with different types of imitation paradigms (Müller, Leeuwen, Baaren, Bekkering, & Dijksterhuis, 2013;Sonnby-Borgström, Jönsson, & Svensson, 2003;Sonnby-Borgström, 2002;Chartrand & Bargh, 1999), the evidence to date suggests that there is no link between imitation, as measured by RTs, and empathy (Genschow et al., 2017;Butler et al., 2015).”
From Functional Specificity and Sex Differences in the Neural Circuits Supporting the Inhibition of Automatic Imitation (2018) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
In the citing paper
“This result extends prior behavioral research on sex differences, which did not separate spatial (or orthogonal spatial) from imitative responses in imitation control (Genschow et al., 2017;Butler et al., 2015).”
From Functional Specificity and Sex Differences in the Neural Circuits Supporting the Inhibition of Automatic Imitation (2018) · cites this paper as Genschow et al., 2017
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Items 101–112 of 112
Does the threat of COVID-19 modulate automatic imitation?
Roberts, J. W., & Bennett, S. J. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0284936
Covert and overt automatic imitation are correlatedPreprint
Cracco, E., Genschow, O., & Braß, M. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/2fyb4
Automatic Imitation in School-Aged ChildrenPreprint
Wermelinger, S., Mörsdorf, L., & Daum, M. M. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/s37uh
The promise and pitfalls of studying the neurophysiological correlates of automatic imitationPreprint
Darda, K. M., & Ramsey, R. (2024) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/yfxdn
The Promise and Pitfalls of Studying the Neurophysiological Correlates of Automatic Imitation
Darda, K. M., & Ramsey, R. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-62634-0_6
Introduction to Automatic Imitation
Genschow, O., & Cracco, E. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-62634-0_1
Khemka, D., & Catmur, C. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-62634-0_2
Conversations with a Two-Day-Old
Nagy, E. (2025) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192865373.003.0004
Automatic imitation of vocal actions is unaffected by group membership
Trotter, A. S., Wilt, H., & Adank, P. (2025) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-025-02104-5 · Cited by 1
Trzmielewska, W. D., & Rak, T. (2026) · Journal of Nonverbal Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10919-026-00528-0
Prosocial and antisocial sensorimotor training on motor response inhibitionPreprint
Kadambi, A., Ringold, S. M., Caballa, N., Olado, G., Monterosso, J. R., Coricelli, G., Kaplan, J., Cracco, E., Braß, M., & Aziz‐Zadeh, L. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.7518158
Little evidence for cultural differences in automatic imitation
Genschow, O., Westfal, M., Dorrough, A. R., Cracco, E., Wingen, T., & Crusius, J. (2026) · Communications Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44271-026-00517-5
Metadata
- Authors
- Genschow, O., van Den Bossche, S., Cracco, E., Bardi, L., Rigoni, D., & Brass, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Cologne (DE)
- Ghent University (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Genschow, Oliver
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2017-09-06
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- e0183784
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5587324
- OpenAlex
- W2751775184
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 110
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 22.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Kölner Universitäts PublikationsServer (Universität zu Köln) (publishedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (PZ00P1_168007)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Keywords
- mimicry, automatic imitation, action observation, reaction time, empathy, autistic traits, personality traits
- MeSH terms
- Biological Mimicry, Empathy, Female, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Male, Personality, Personality Tests, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Behavior, Socioeconomic Factors
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