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Topic · Social Psychology

Action Observation and Synchronization

Action Observation and Synchronization is a research topic within Social Psychology. Science Explorer counts 23k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the concept of embodied cognition, focusing on the role of the mirror neuron system, neural mechanisms underlying action observation, social cognition, language comprehension, and interpersonal synchrony. The research delves into how the motor system and embodiment influence social interaction and understanding of intentions.

  • Mirror Neuron System
  • Embodiment
  • Action Observation
  • Social Cognition
  • Motor System
  • Neural Mechanisms
  • Intention Understanding
  • Language Comprehension
  • Interpersonal Synchrony
  • Neural Circuits
Research works
23k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+10%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
26% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Action Observation and Synchronization

Which countries lead Action Observation and Synchronization research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.1k and 573 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 1.1k works
  2. 2 China 573 works
  3. 3 Germany 495 works
  4. 4 Italy 391 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 382 works
  6. 6 Japan 316 works
  7. 7 France 298 works
  8. 8 Canada 230 works
  9. 9 Netherlands 149 works
  10. 10 Spain 121 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 26.4%China: 14.3%Germany: 12.3%Italy: 9.8%6 others listed: 37.3%26%largest
United States1,058 · 26.4%China573 · 14.3%Germany495 · 12.3%Italy391 · 9.8%6 others listed1,497 · 37.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Action Observation and Synchronization research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Action Observation and Synchronization research, followed by Max Planck Society and University College London.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 105 works
  2. 2 Max Planck SocietyGermany 37 works
  3. 3 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 35 works
  4. 4 Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands 28 works
  5. 5 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 27 works
  6. 6 National Research CouncilItaly 24 works
  7. 7 Italian Institute of TechnologyItaly 24 works
  8. 8 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 23 works
  9. 9 New York UniversityUnited States 23 works
  10. 10 University of TorontoCanada 22 works

Who are the leading researchers in Action Observation and Synchronization?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Action Observation and Synchronization include Albert Bandura, Amos Tversky and Karl John Friston.

  1. 1 Albert Bandura United States 370k citations
  2. 2 Amos Tversky United States 327k citations
  3. 3 Karl John Friston United Kingdom 310k citations
  4. 4 Luigi Ferrucci United States 281k citations
  5. 5 Dennis W. Dickson United States 237k citations
  6. 6 Li Fei-Fei United States 225k citations
  7. 7 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  8. 8 Clifford R. Jack United States 218k citations
  9. 9 Trevor William Robbins United Kingdom 199k citations
  10. 10 Paul M. Thompson United States 196k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Action Observation and Synchronization?

The most cited paper in Action Observation and Synchronization is "Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?" (David Premack, Guy Woodruff, 1978), with 8,737 citations. Next come "THE MIRROR-NEURON SYSTEM" (7,193) and "How do you feel — now? The anterior insula and human awareness" (6,829).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? David Premack, Guy Woodruff · Behavioral and Brain Sciences Open access Dec 1978 8,737
2 THE MIRROR-NEURON SYSTEM Giacomo Rizzolatti, Laila Craighero · Annual Review of Neuroscience Review 24 Jun 2004 7,193
3 How do you feel — now? The anterior insula and human awareness A. D. Craig · Nature reviews. Neuroscience Review 19 Dec 2008 6,829
4 The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement. Paul M. Fitts · Journal of Experimental Psychology General 1992 6,325
5 Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science Andy Clark · Behavioral and Brain Sciences Open access 10 May 2013 6,131
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Action Observation and Synchronization research done?

The largest centres of Action Observation and Synchronization research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Paris (France) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Genoa and Nijmegen.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 124 works
  2. 2 TokyoJapan 115 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 106 works
  4. 4 LondonUnited Kingdom 103 works
  5. 5 RomeItaly 74 works
  6. 6 ShanghaiChina 72 works
  7. 7 MilanItaly 65 works
  8. 8 New YorkUnited States 55 works
  9. 9 MontrealCanada 46 works
  10. 10 BerlinGermany 45 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GenoaIT · 33.3 works11×
  2. NijmegenNL · 36.9 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Action Observation and Synchronization than the world average.

See Action Observation and Synchronization on the map

Where is the best place to study Action Observation and Synchronization?

Among universities, judged by research, University College London, Johns Hopkins University and Radboud University Nijmegen score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 16.69%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Radboud University N…University College L…Massachusetts Instit…Johns Hopkins Univer…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University College LondonUnited Kingdom 75.417.4%4.8×35 -16.6%
2Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 71.813.8%3.8×27 +30.1%
3Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands 67.217.7%10.2×28 -16.5%
4Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 64.814.8%6.2×20 +9.7%
5University of HaifaIsrael 64.814.8%17.8×18 +50.4%
6Harvard UniversityUnited States 63.620.8%1.3×20 -3.9%
7University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 63.011.4%3.7×20 +11.7%
8University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 62.216.4%3.3×21 -18.7%
9Università Cattolica del Sacro CuoreItaly 62.120.8%8.1×16 +20.4%
10Yale UniversityUnited States 61.519.0%3.5×17 +16.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Action Observation and Synchronization, country by country

Is Action Observation and Synchronization research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Action Observation and Synchronization.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Action Observation and Synchronization as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.018% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Action Observation and Synchronization0.023% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Action Observation and Synchronization over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Action Observation and Synchronization9.9% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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