The tuning-fork model of human social cognition: a critique

Conscious Cogn. 2009 Mar;18(1):229-43. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2008.05.002. Epub 2008 Jun 25.

Abstract

The tuning-fork model of human social cognition, based on the discovery of mirror neurons (MNs) in the ventral premotor cortex of monkeys, involves the four following assumptions: (1) mirroring processes are processes of resonance or simulation. (2) They can be motor or non-motor. (3) Processes of motor mirroring (or action-mirroring), exemplified by the activity of MNs, constitute instances of third-person mindreading, whereby an observer represents the agent's intention. (4) Non-motor mirroring processes enable humans to represent others' emotions. After questioning all four assumptions, I point out that MNs in an observer's brain could not synchronically resonate with MNs in an agent's brain unless they discharged in a single brain in two distinct tasks at different times. Finally, I sketch a conceptualist alternative to the resonance model according to which a brain mechanism active in both the execution and the perception of e.g., the act of grasping is the neural basis of the concept of e.g., grasping.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Haplorhini
  • Humans
  • Intention
  • Motor Cortex
  • Nerve Net
  • Psychological Theory
  • Social Perception*