# Anticipated Imitation Is Not Affected by the Number of Imitators

## TL;DR

The study found that expecting to be imitated by one or two people has the same effect on action planning, suggesting that the brain uses simplified representations for anticipated imitation.

## Contribution

The paper shows that anticipated imitation is not influenced by the number of imitators, unlike motor priming from observing multiple agents.

## Key findings

- Anticipated imitation effects were similar for one or two imitators.
- The brain uses sparse representations for anticipated imitation.
- This contrasts with motor priming effects from observing multiple agents.

## Abstract

Abstract: Anticipating to be imitated by another agent primes corresponding action plans in action models. Here we assessed whether being imitated by more than one coactor boosts anticipated imitation. This prediction was based on corresponding findings from motor priming by perceiving rather than anticipating movements of multiple agents. In contrast to this previous work, the effects of anticipated imitation were similar for imitation by a single agent and joint imitation by two agents. Anticipated imitation, therefore, appears to be based on sparse representations of only selected features rather than including a full representation of all possible consequences of one’s own movements.