Motor cognition and its role in the phylogeny and ontogeny of action understanding.

@article{Gallese2009MotorCA,
  title={Motor cognition and its role in the phylogeny and ontogeny of action understanding.},
  author={Vittorio Gallese and Magali Rochat and Giuseppe Cossu and Corrado Sinigaglia},
  journal={Developmental psychology},
  year={2009},
  volume={45 1},
  pages={
          103-13
        }
}
Social life rests in large part on the capacity to understand the intentions behind the behavior of others. What are the origins of this capacity? How is one to construe its development in ontogenesis? By assuming that action understanding can be explained only in terms of the ability to read the minds of others--that is, to represent mental states--the traditional view claims that a sharp discontinuity occurs in both phylogeny and ontogeny. Over the last few years this view has been challenged… 
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