If I'm stuck, I get up from my chair and I wash windows. Or. . . clean the bathroom. Or vacuum the attic. There's always something to be done.
A child might be made to bow every time he met a certain person by pressure on his neck muscles, and bowing would finally become automatic. It would not, however, be an act of recognition or deference on his part, till he did it with a certain end in view - as having a certain meaning.