A behavioural examination of the properties of the action observation system

The aim of this doctoral work is to examine the proposed properties of the Action Observation System (AOS) using the behavioural paradigm of movement interference effect. A review of the research literature of the AOS shows that it is primarily proposed to be:1. AUTOMATIC, 2. UNMEDIATED, and 3. SPECIFIC. I examine the above properties by designing experiments that can systematically test each of the properties. I also develop a measure of motor interference more sensitive than variance or standard deviation which have been more commonly used thus far. This thesis consists of six chapters, three of which present behavioural data, a general introduction (CHAPTER 01) and a general discussion (CHAPTER 06). Chapter 02 provides a theoretical framework of the proposed properties of the AOS based on research literature with a particular focus on motor interference. CHAPTER 03 presents behavioural data from an experiment that attempted to replicate the findings of Kilner et al. (2007). CHAPTER 04 presents behavioural data from a set of two related experiments that, i) developed a more sensitive measure of motor interference and ii) examined the effects of observing “Dot” and “Video (human)” stimuli on motor interference when diagonal movements are observed and executed. CHAPTER 05 presents the findings from an experiment that examined the effect of observational viewpoint on the AOS and measured the effect via motor interference. CHAPTER 06 re-examines the properties of the AOS based on the results of the experiments described in Chapters 03, 04 and 05, as well as based on other existing literature. I conclude with an appendix on how action might be represented in the AOS.