Robots Induce Mimicry in Humans

This study explores human-robot interaction in terms of behavioral mimicry the imitation of gestures, postures, mannerisms, and other motor movements. We conducted an experiment looking at how much humans mimicked a robot during the task of describing paintings. We compared the time a participant performed a behavior (hands on hips or hands behind back) before and after observing a robot perform that behavior. We identified two groups of people, those who spontaneously performed the behaviors before seeing a robot display them and those who did not. We find that humans mimic a robot more after observing it perform a behavior if they did not spontaneously display that behavior before seeing the robot do so. Interestingly, we also find that humans spontaneously performing a behavior before seeing a robot do so actually display that behavior less after seeing the robot perform it.