Schwarz
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This field has been the subject of intensive research and discussion over the last few years. Developmental psychologists now investigate the various ways in which children acquire their skills by copying their parents and peers, and the same issue arises in connection with the widely disputed subject of culture amongst primates and other animals. For instance, how, if at all, do chimps acquire their manual skills? But then, for that matter, how do human fashions spread? Is there really such a thing as a meme? What's involved in copying someone? What do we mean by impersonation? What is mimicry exactly? How do children acquire the accent of their region? How do parrots do so? How does culture determine what we decide to copy? How does social influence work and why is it that certain behaviors such as the high five spreads through one part of the community while leaving others unaffected? How does fashion work and what determines its influence and spread? What's the difference between imitation and emulation? How do living organisms acquire their protective invisibility by reproducing the visible appearance of their environment? What's the difference between concealment and disguise? And then of course there's the question of computers and robots. Can robots copy human behavior and to what extent are computers copies of ourselves?from here