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Imitation and matching of meaningless gestures: distinct involvement from motor and visual imagery

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to understand the underlying cognitive processes of imitation and matching of meaningless gestures. Neuropsychological evidence obtained in brain damaged patients, has shown that distinct cognitive processes supported imitation and matching of meaningless gestures. Left-brain damaged (LBD) patients failed to imitate while right-brain damaged (RBD) patients failed to match meaningless gestures. Moreover, other studies with brain damaged patients showed that LBD patients were impaired in motor imagery while RBD patients were impaired in visual imagery. Thus, we hypothesize that imitation of meaningless gestures might rely on motor imagery, whereas matching of meaningless gestures might be based on visual imagery. In a first experiment, using a correlational design, we demonstrated that posture imitation relies on motor imagery but not on visual imagery (Experiment 1a) and that posture matching relies on visual imagery but not on motor imagery (Experiment 1b). In a second experiment, by manipulating directly the body posture of the participants, we demonstrated that such manipulation evokes a difference only in imitation task but not in matching task. In conclusion, the present study provides direct evidence that the way we imitate or we have to compare postures depends on motor imagery or visual imagery, respectively. Our results are discussed in the light of recent findings about underlying mechanisms of meaningful and meaningless gestures.

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Notes

  1. Conceptual mediation specifies the determining features of the gesture independently of arbitrary variations of its visual appearance caused by differences between demonstrating persons and between angles of view under which they are perceived (see Goldenberg, 1999).

  2. α = covariance(x, y)/variance(x) where x is the degree of the orientation of the hand (expressed in °) and y is the RT for each orientation (expressed in ms).

  3. To compute the slope of the motor imagery task, we did not take into account the 270° orientation. Indeed, it has been previously shown that the transformation of the the 180° to the 270° orientation is not linear and depends on the laterality of the hand. It has been assumed that this effect reveals biomechanical constraints (e.g., Parsons, 1994). Thus, the slopes for visual imagery task and motor imagery task were computed in the same range (i.e., 0°–180°).

  4. α = covariance(x, y)/variance(x) where x is the degree of the orientation of the right model relative to the left model (expressed in °) and y is the RT for each orientation (expressed in ms).

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from ANR (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche; Project Démences et Utilisation d’Outils/Dementia and Tool Use, N°ANR 2011 MALZ 006 03; D. Le Gall, F. Osiurak), and was performed within the framework of the LABEX CORTEX (ANR-11-LABX-0042) of Université de Lyon, within the program “Investissements d’Avenir” (ANR-11-IDEX-0007; F. Osiurak, J. Navarro) operated by the French National Research Agency (ANR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs (EA 3082), Institut de Psychologie, Université Lyon 2, 5, avenue Pierre Mendès-France, 69676, Bron Cedex, France

    Mathieu Lesourd, Jordan Navarro & François Osiurak

  2. Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (EA 4638), Université d’Angers, Angers, France

    Josselin Baumard, Christophe Jarry & Didier Le Gall

  3. Unité de Neuropsychologie, Département de Neurologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d’Angers, Angers, France

    Christophe Jarry & Didier Le Gall

  4. Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France

    François Osiurak

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  1. Mathieu Lesourd
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Correspondence to Mathieu Lesourd.

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Lesourd, M., Navarro, J., Baumard, J. et al. Imitation and matching of meaningless gestures: distinct involvement from motor and visual imagery. Psychological Research 81, 525–537 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0758-1

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