Understanding other people's actions: intention and attention.

Full Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which observation of an action performed by a human actor or a robotic arm may kinematically prime the performance of an observer subsequently required to perform a similar action. In Experiment 1, an actor reached for a target presented in isolation or flanked by a distractor object. Subsequently, an observer was required to perform a similar action toward the target object, but always in the absence of the distractor. The kinematics of both the human actor and the observer were affected by the presence of the distractor. Unexpectedly, similar effects were found in the observer's kinematics during the trials in which the actor was seated in front of the observer but no action was demonstrated (catch trials). Results from 4 subsequent experiments suggest that the motor intentions of the actor can be inferred by monitoring his or her gaze. To support this conclusion, results are discussed in terms of recent work spanning many disciplines involved in combining gaze direction and body movements.

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Author information

Author/s: Castiello, Umberto (U);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom. u.castiello(-atsign-)rhul.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Controlled Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Apr; vol 29 (issue 2) : pp 416-30

Dates: Created 2003/05/22; Completed 2003/09/09; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12760625, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Analysis of Variance
Association Learning - physiology
Attention
Cues
Discrimination Learning - physiology
Eye Movements
Female
Field Dependence-Independence
Fixation, Ocular

Humans
Imitative Behavior - physiology
Intention
Interpersonal Relations
Kinesics
Male
Movement - physiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Robotics
Visual Perception - physiology

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