'''Imitation''' is an advanced animal behaviour whereby an individual observes another's behaviour and replicates it itself. It has been argued by Susan_Blackmore in ''The Meme Machine'', that imitation is what makes humans unique among animals. Imitation might have been selected as fit by evolution because those who were good at it had a wider arsenal of learned cultural behavior at their disposal, such as tool making or even language. In anthropology, diffusion theories explain why cultures imitate the ideas or practices of other cultures. Some theories hold that all cultures imitate ideas from one or a few original cultures, the Adam of the Bible, or several cultural circles that overlap. Evolutionary diffusion theory holds that cultures are influenced by one another, but that similar ideas can be developed in isolation. In mid-20th century, social scientists began to study how and why people imitate ideas. Everett_Rogers pioneered Diffusion_of_innovations studies, using research to prove factors in adoption and profiles of adopters of ideas. Recent work in Neuroscience has begun to reveal the mechanisms of imitation in the human brain. It seems that there is a system of Mirror_neurons which are active both when you see another person act and when you do the same thing yourself, and these may allow humans to learn by imitation. {{psych-stub}}{{socio-stub}} Category:Psychology Da:Imitation Pl:Naśladownictwo