Representation of Self versus Others' Actions

In many social settings, people are expected to respond to and anticipate the actions of others. Everyday examples include team sports, card games and normal conversations. Clearly, an important aspect of social cognition is thinking about and planning for other agents' actions. But what processes are involved in thinking about others' actions, as opposed to one's own actions? This chapter introduces some broad ideas about the possible sensorimotor foundations of action representation in both self and other, drawing on recent findings from the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. The chapter is organized around three themes: (1) how action experience shapes the representation of others' actions; (2) action affordances and the representation of space in relation to self and other; and (3) distinguishing self and other.