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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency
Published on: October 28, 2020
When Pinocchio acts like a human, a wooden hand becomes embodied. Action co-representation for non-biological agents
Barbara C N Müller1, Marcel Brass2, Simone Kühn2
1Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Action observation automatically activates corresponding motor representations in the observer, which is essential in coordinating actions with others. It is assumed that this co-representation system is activated by biological agents only. However, we often identify with biological agents, whereas this is not the case for non-biological agents. The present study investigated whether action co-representation depends on the perceived animacy of the non-biological interaction partner. Before performing a joint Simon task with either an animated image of a human or a wooden hand, participants either watched a video fragment of a biological agent, or of a non-biological agent, Pinocchio, to increase perceived animacy of this agent. Whereas participants who watched the 'biological' agent showed a Simon effect only when co-acting with a biological agent, participants who watched 'non-biological' agent (i.e. Pinocchio) showed a Simon effect only when co-acting with a non-biological agent. The present findings provide evidence for the assumption that motor simulation strongly depends on higher order processes.
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