The mirror reflects both ways: Action influences perception of others

• Published in: Brain and cognition Vol. 72; no. 2; pp. 306 - 309
• Main Authors: Blaesi, Sabine, Wilson, Margaret
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.03.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Action–perception link; Activity levels. Psychomotricity; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition; Cognitive Ability; Embodied cognition; Facial Expression; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hand; Human Body; Humans; Judgment; Mirror neuron system; Motor Activity; Perception; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor activities; Psychophysics; Psychophysiology; Stimuli; Visual Perception; Embodied cognition; Action–perception link; Mirror neuron system; Facial expression; Human; Affect affectivity; Action; Central nervous system; Action-perception link; Cognition; Emotion emotionality; Experimental study; Embodiment; Encephalon; Mirror neuron; Vision; Body movement; Perception; Face; Motricity
• ISSN: 0278-2626; 1090-2147; 1090-2147
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2009.10.001

Substantial evidence links perception of others’ bodies and mental representation of the observer’s own body; however, the overwhelming majority of this evidence is unidirectional, showing influence from perception to action. It has been proposed that the influence also runs from action to perception, but to date the evidence is scant. Here we report that ordinary motor actions performed by the subject affect concurrent psychophysical judgments of human-body stimuli. Subjects remained unaware of the connection between the action and the main task. The results show that perception can change as a result of the observer’s ongoing actions.