TY - JOUR

T1 - Covert and overt automatic imitation are correlated

AU - Cracco, Emiel

AU - Genschow, Oliver

AU - Brass, Marcel

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2023.

PY - 2024/6

Y1 - 2024/6

N2 - Most theoretical accounts of imitation assume that covert and overt measures of automatic imitation tap into the same underlying construct. Despite this widespread assumption, it is not well supported by empirical evidence. In fact, the only study investigating the relation between covert and overt automatic imitation failed to find a correlation between them (Genschow et al., 2017, PLOS ONE, 12[9], Article e0183784). However, because overt and covert imitation were measured using two very different tasks, and because the measure of overt imitation was found to be unreliable, it is still not clear whether a correlation between both measures exists. Here, we address this question by reanalyzing the results of a previous virtual reality study in which automatic imitation was indexed with an overt and covert measure of gaze following, both obtained within one and the same task (Cracco et al., 2022, IScience, Article 104891). The results show that, in this situation, both types of imitation do correlate. As such, our results provide support for the idea that overt and covert measures of automatic imitation measure the same underlying construct.

AB - Most theoretical accounts of imitation assume that covert and overt measures of automatic imitation tap into the same underlying construct. Despite this widespread assumption, it is not well supported by empirical evidence. In fact, the only study investigating the relation between covert and overt automatic imitation failed to find a correlation between them (Genschow et al., 2017, PLOS ONE, 12[9], Article e0183784). However, because overt and covert imitation were measured using two very different tasks, and because the measure of overt imitation was found to be unreliable, it is still not clear whether a correlation between both measures exists. Here, we address this question by reanalyzing the results of a previous virtual reality study in which automatic imitation was indexed with an overt and covert measure of gaze following, both obtained within one and the same task (Cracco et al., 2022, IScience, Article 104891). The results show that, in this situation, both types of imitation do correlate. As such, our results provide support for the idea that overt and covert measures of automatic imitation measure the same underlying construct.

KW - Automatic imitation

KW - Gaze following

KW - Validity

KW - Psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178120162&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.31234/osf.io/2fyb4

DO - 10.31234/osf.io/2fyb4

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 38010454

AN - SCOPUS:85178120162

VL - 31

SP - 1348

EP - 1352

JO - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review

JF - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review

SN - 1069-9384

IS - 3

ER -