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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Minimal mimicry: mere effector matching induces preference.

Peggy Sparenberg¹, Sascha Topolinski, Anne Springer

¹Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany. sparenberg@cbs.mpg.de

Brain and Cognition

|October 3, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Mimicking others, even unintentionally, fosters preference. This study reveals that simply matching body parts used in movements (effector matching), not the movement itself, is enough to create this preference link.

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Area of Science:

Social Psychology
Cognitive Science
Human Behavior

Background:

Mimicry and preference are linked, but the minimal conditions are unclear.
Previous research suggests mimicry increases liking, but the specific mechanisms require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the minimal sufficient conditions for the mimicry-preference link.
To investigate whether effector matching alone, independent of movement type, induces preference.

Main Methods:

Participants observed avatars or humans performing movements with different body parts (effectors) and movement styles.
Experiments manipulated effector overlap (same vs. different body parts) and movement similarity.
Preference ratings were collected for observed targets based on movement congruence.

Main Results:

Participants showed a preference for targets using the same body part (effector matching) regardless of movement pace or style.
Movement similarity alone did not significantly influence preference.
Effector matching was identified as a sufficient condition for inducing preference.

Conclusions:

The findings suggest that the mere overlap of body parts used in movements (effector matching) is sufficient to trigger preference.
This preference is mediated by an automatic mimicry process, independent of conscious imitation or movement similarity.