The Agent-Based Perspective on Imitation

This chapter presents the agent-based perspective on imitation. In this perspective, imitation is best considered as the behaviour of an autonomous agent in relation to its environment, including other autonomous agents. We argue that such a perspective helps unfold the full potential of research on imitation and helps in identifying challenging and important research issues. We first explain the agent-based perspective and then discuss it in the context of particular research issues in studies with animals and artifacts, with reference to chapters presented in this book. At the end of the chapter, we briefly introduce the individual contributions to this book and provide a roadmap that helps the reader in navigating through the exciting and highly interwoven themes that are presented in this book. [opening paragraph]