In this blog post, we will examine whether imitation is simply copying or a unique way of learning for humans by looking at the differences between humans and chimpanzees.
Imitation refers to observing new or non-innate behaviors and replicating those behaviors, and it necessarily involves observation and learning. Imitation plays an important role in human development, enabling humans to acquire social skills, language, and culture. The concept of imitation can be better understood by examining the behavioral differences between humans and higher intelligence animals.
There is an experiment in which young chimpanzees and children observe the actions of a demonstrator and then imitate them. Two plastic food boxes of the same structure are used, with the only difference being that one is transparent and the other is opaque. The top and bottom of each box are blocked by partitions. The bottom compartment of each box has a door from which food can be removed, while the top compartment has only a hole. Young chimpanzees and children observe a demonstrator tapping the top of the box with a stick and then inserting the stick into the hole once. They then observe the demonstrator opening the door of the lower compartment and using the stick to remove the food.
The young chimpanzees were able to follow the demonstration well with the opaque boxes, but not with the transparent ones. They seemed to understand that only the lower compartment was necessary to obtain the food, and they eliminated unnecessary actions before obtaining the food. However, the children followed the demonstrator’s actions regardless of whether the boxes were opaque or transparent. This shows that children value not only the purpose of an action but also the process of the action.
This difference between young chimpanzees and children can be explained by mirror neurons in neuroscience. Mirror neurons are a type of nerve cell that show the same activation when observing the actions of another actor as when performing the action themselves. Experiments have shown that the degree of mirror neuron activation differs between “observation of behavior,” “execution of behavior without observation,” and “imitation.” Mirror neurons were more active in “execution of actions without observation” than in “observation of actions,” and showed the highest activity in “imitation.”
Furthermore, when the goal of the other person’s action is clear, mirror neurons are activated in all primates. On the other hand, in situations where it is difficult to observe the goal, mirror neurons are rarely activated in primates other than humans. In other words, it can be explained that they do not imitate the behavior because they cannot observe the goal of the behavior related to the upper compartment of the transparent box. Human mirror neurons can be activated in a sophisticated manner not only by behavioral goals but also by the manner in which the behavior is performed and the intention behind it.
Human mirror neurons work together with other parts of the brain to increase the level of imitation. If mirror neurons are involved in the human imitation process, it can be thought that humans have become capable of accurately imitating even behaviors that seem inefficient through a mechanism of imitation that copies things as they are. This characteristic plays an important role in humans learning complex social interactions, passing on culture, and developing creative problem-solving skills.
This difference between humans and higher intelligent animals suggests the true meaning of imitation. Imitation is an important mechanism that goes beyond simply replicating behavior and enables social learning and cultural transmission. Through this, humans are able to accumulate and develop knowledge and skills across generations.
