We learned that mirror neurons help people to learn by observing and imitating.
First, observe. Watch the video and follow along to identify feelings. Try out different facial expressions and behaviors with each other and see if you can guess how others may be feeling. Don’t worry if you don’t guess correctly in the beginning. You’ll get better with practice!
Then, try an experiment in imitation. Next time you’re at school, church, or another public place, try smiling at a stranger. Big and bright smiles! How do they react? Hope you get a lot of great big smiles back. That’s mirror neurons at work!
Now let’s start a science experiment by keeping track of how many times you smile at people and then how many times those people smiled back. You can also see how it works with frowns or a face of confusion. After you gather the results take a look and write down what you learned.
- Do you see a pattern?
- What does this tell you about how people respond to facial expressions?
- How can you use this knowledge to model something that makes others better?