echopraxia
nounEtymology From echo- + -praxia. Analogous to echolalia.
1
Human sciences, Medicine, Pathology, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopathology, Sciences The involuntary repetition or imitation of the observed movements of another.
- For example, a tic is an automatic form of echopraxia, involving to some slight degree the emotions and the volition and having been originally acquired by suggestion and imitation.1906, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Volume 33, Williams & Wilkins, page 547:
- 1964, Digest of Neurology and Psychiatry, Volumes 32-33, Institute of Living, page 260, Echolalia and echopraxia have been recognized as symptoms of seriously disturbed behavior in adults for over a century.
1 more example
- Several patients, after repeated experience of echopraxia and pantomime, had the delusion that they could communicate with others without using words—merely transmitting ideas by a bodily movement.1966, The British Journal of Psychiatry, volume 112, Royal Medico-Psychological Association, page 241:
- Related terms
- copropraxia, echolalia, palipraxia