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Imitation: Neither instinct nor gadget, but a cultural starting point?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2019

Lindsey J. Powell
Lindsey J. Powell*
Affiliation:
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ca mbridge, MA 02139. [email protected]
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Abstract

Heyes asks whether cultural learning mechanisms are cognitive instincts or cognitive gadgets. I argue that imitation does not fall into either category. Instead, its acquisition is promoted by its value in social interactions, which is evident across phylogeny and ontogeny and does not depend on the role of imitation in cultural learning.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e180
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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