Copying competitors? Interdependency modulates stimulus-based retrieval of observed responses.

We investigated whether stimuli are integrated with responses that are merely observed, but not executed by oneself, and examined the moderating role of mutual dependency between coactors on the binding and retrieval of stimuli and observed responses. A prime-probe paradigm was shared between 2 coactors who took the roles of actor and observer in turns. We also varied the interdependency between the pairs of participants (cooperation vs. competition vs. independence). Results of Experiment 1 indicated that prime observers showed stimulus-based retrieval of observed responses when it was their turn to act in the 2 interdependent conditions, whereas prime observers in the independent condition did not. Results of Experiment 2 excluded the possibility that the stronger retrieval effects in the interdependent conditions are due to social facilitation of retrieval processes in general, as interdependency did not modulate stimulus-based retrieval of self-generated responses. We conclude that binding and retrieval of stimuli and observed responses is a conditionally automatic process that is contingent on mutual dependency between actor and observer.