In a study, researchers had preschool children watch an adult either kicking, hitting, and yelling at a Bobo doll or playing quietly with toys. Children were then placed alone in a room with the Bobo doll and other toys. Children who had observed the aggressive adult performed more novel aggressive acts toward the doll than children who had observed the nonaggressive adult.
Mirror neurons are thought to support imitation by
- A
Releasing dopamine to reinforce aggression
- B
Storing autobiographical memories of the model
- Ccheck_circle
Firing both when an action is performed and when it is observed
- D
Suppressing motor activity during observation
Explanation
Mirror neurons fire during both observation and execution of an action, providing a neural substrate hypothesized to support imitation and social learning.