Page |77 experiments have suggested that Trinidad, who had played soccer his understanding actions and objects invoke whole life. The instructions he gave the some of the same brain structures used kids were quite different: “Follow me to perform the actions and to act on the and do what I do”. There were no objects. With respect to actions in suggested foot flexions or extensions, particular, humans sometimes use their and no specific leg movements own motor repertoire in interpreting proposed. The kids learned the skills, actions, possibly by imagining or and won all their games. Why? The kids mentally simulating the perceived learned by observing a good model and action. When people are asked to then imitating what they observed the observe the actions of others, person doing, which appears to be a way particularly goal-directed actions to learn motor skills that is far stronger involving the hands or mouth, they seem than that of explicit motor instruction. to activate brain regions for moving the When people have strokes, a part hands or mouth. Thus, there is a link : . 38 : . . of their brain dies, and they can lose the between observing actions and executing eae : : ability to speak or use a hand properly. actions. This has a relevance to W . s Sener . ce . € are now using this idea of imitation education as well: “Understanding by : «ay . in a treatment program to re-educate doing” (1.e., by observing and then : : . people with strokes to use their hands executing) has a long and valued wat . 3 better and to pronounce words better. tradition in American education’, and a i. . For these imitation-based treatments, these recent scientific results might help 5 _ : people first observe a particular hand us understand why this is effective. ; , action or speech sample on a video When my son was 5 years old, he monitor, and then they try to produce it. was a member of a kids’ soccer team in In fact, they observe it over and over Hyde Park, on the campus of the ag