Mirror Mirror

A thoughtless act is performed in reaction to some stimulus in our environment.

Sometimes we are problem solving, or acting out of habit or routine.

The motivation behind some of the most seemingly simple behaviors are not simple at all, but very complex.

Mirroring, or copying the mannerisms of others is a type of thoughtless act which, is occuring constantly, and mostly without our awareness.

Couples who have been together a long time, families and close friends will often adopt each other's style of speech or way of moving.

Even strangers, who demonstrate an interest in one another, will begin to mimic and copy the other's movements.

As someone who delights in the study of human behavior, I find this particular mirroring of movements fascinating.

There are many explanations for this....

We learn how to behave and ultimately how to survive through "modeling". We see someone do something and then we copy it, in most cases, without our awareness. This is how we not only learn simple tasks, but also how we learn to behave in social situations and how we learn to adapt and survive in our environment. By merely observing simple patterns of movement, or particular ways a person handles an object, or uses a space, we can actually discover where they are from, where they grew up, or what kind of cultural influences they may have experienced.

But what interests me about this type of behavior, beyond merely observing it, is the study of the mirror neuron, and what might be happening on the neurological level when we engage in mimicking each others movements.

I've attached a video that I think is more interesting than subjecting you to my own explanation of the discovery and function of mirror neurons.

If you're still interested there is a great book called "Mirroring People" by Marco Iacoboni which delves deeper into this exciting new discovery.

VS Ramachandran: The neurons that shaped civilization Video on TED.com

here are some other interesting links:

http://mirrorneuronsresearch.com/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=therapeutic-reflection