Facial expressions provide valuable information in making judgments about internal emotional states. Evaluation of facial expressions can occur through mimicry processes via the mirror neuron system (MNS) pathway, where a decoder mimics a target’s facial expression and proprioceptive perception prompts emotion recognition. Female participants rated emotional facial expressions when mimicry was ...

This research examined virtual-human interactions as a new form of simulated contact between members of groups in conflict. A virtual human representing an outgroup member (a Palestinian) interacted with 60 Jewish Israeli participants in an experimental study. We manipulated postural mimicry by the virtual interaction partner during a conversation about a sensitive conflict issue. Mimicry incre...

Mimicry involves adaptive resemblance between a mimic and a model. However, despite much recent research, it remains contentious in plants. Here, we review recent progress on studying deception by flowers, distinguishing between plants relying on mimicry to achieve pollination and those relying on the exploitation of the perceptual biases of animals. We disclose fundamental differences between ...

During adult interactions, behavioral mimicry, the implicit copying of an interaction partner's postures and mannerisms, communicates liking and affiliation. While this social behavior likely develops during early childhood, it is unclear which factors contribute to its emergence. Here, the roles of inhibitory control and social understanding on 5-year-olds' behavioral mimicry were investigated...

The paper investigates the role of mimicry in the reduction of infra-humanization. Mimicry as an automatic imitation of a partner's behavior (this is known as "social glue") connects people (Miles et al., 2010). Empirical findings have confirmed that mimicry leads to favorable treatment of the mimicker (Van Baaren et al., 2003). The mechanism is reciprocal: the mimicker is more positively incli...

During social interactions, there is a tendency for people to mimic the gestures and mannerisms of others, which increases liking and rapport. Psychologists have extensively studied the antecedents and consequences of mimicry at the social level, but the neural basis of this behavior remains unclear. Many researchers have speculated that mimicry is related to activity in the human mirror system...

In Batesian mimicry a palatable mimic deceives predators by resembling an unpalatable model. The evolution of Batesian mimicry relies on the visual capabilities of the potential predators, as prey detection provides the selective force driving evolutionary change. We compared the visual capabilities of several potential predators to test predictions stemming from the hypothesis of Batesian mimi...

Mimicry and imitation are crucial mechanisms of social learning and rapport. Further, mimicry informs essential social judgments formed not only by the interacting party but also by third-party observers. How sophisticated are observer’s inferences from mimicry? We examined this in the context of observers’ use of mimicry to judge trustworthiness. Participants observed a dyadic interaction in w...

Batesian mimicry evolves when individuals of a palatable species gain the selective advantage of reduced predation because they resemble a toxic species that predators avoid. Here, we evaluated whether-and in which direction-Batesian mimicry has evolved in a natural population of mimics following extirpation of their model. We specifically asked whether the precision of coral snake mimicry has ...

Mimicry is an example of an adaptation that requires the integration of several components. Genetic characterisation of a mimicry polymorphism in a butterfly reveals the expected suppression of recombination among its components, preventing the production of unfit character combinations.