Gaze,goals and growing up: Effects on imitative grasping

Developmental differences in the use of social‐attention cues to imitation were examined among children aged 3 and 6 years old (n = 58) and adults (n = 29). In each of 20 trials, participants watched a model grasp two objects simultaneously and move them together. On every trial, the model directed her gaze towards only one of the objects. Some object pairs were related and had a clear functional relationship (e.g., flower, vase), while others were functionally unrelated (e.g., cardboard square, ladybug). Owing to attentional effects of eye gaze, it was expected that all participants would more faithfully imitate the grasp on the gazed‐at object than the object not gazed‐at. Children were expected to imitate less faithfully on trials with functionally related objects than those without, due to goal‐hierarchy effects. Results support effects of eye gaze on imitation of grasping. Children's grasping accuracy on functionally related and functionally unrelated trials was similar, but they were more likely to only use one hand on trials where the object pairs were functionally related than unrelated. Implications for theories of imitation are discussed.     

Individual differences in neonatal “imitation” fail to predict early social cognitive behaviour

The influential hypothesis that humans imitate from birth – and that this capacity is foundational to social cognition – is currently being challenged from several angles. Most prominently, the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal study of neonatal imitation to date failed to find evidence that neonates copied any of nine actions at any of four time points (Oostenbroek et al., [2016] Current Biology, 26, 1334–1338). The authors of an alternative and statistically liberal post‐hoc analysis of these same data (Meltzoff et al., [2017] Developmental Science, 21, e12609), however, concluded that the infants actually did imitate one of the nine actions: tongue protrusion. In line with the original intentions of this longitudinal study, we here report on whether individual differences in neonatal “imitation” predict later‐developing social cognitive behaviours. We measured a variety of social cognitive behaviours in a subset of the original sample of infants (N = 71) during the first 18 months: object‐directed imitation, joint attention, synchronous imitation and mirror self‐recognition. Results show that, even using the liberal operationalization, individual scores for neonatal “imitation” of tongue protrusion failed to predict any of the later‐developing social cognitive behaviours. The average Spearman correlation was close to zero, mean r_s = 0.027, 95% CI [?0.020, 0.075], with all Bonferroni adjusted p values > .999. These results run counter to Meltzoff et al.'s rebuttal, and to the existence of a “like me” mechanism in neonates that is foundational to human social cognition.     

Relations between 18-month-olds’ gaze pattern and target action performance: A deferred imitation study with eye tracking

Deferred imitation studies are used to assess infants’ declarative memory performance. These studies have found that deferred imitation performance improves with age, which is usually attributed to advancing memory capabilities. Imitation studies, however, are also used to assess infants’ action understanding. In this second research program it has been observed that infants around the age of one year imitate selectively, i.e., they imitate certain kinds of target actions and omit others. In contrast to this, two-year-olds usually imitate the model's exact actions. 18-month-olds imitate more exactly than one-year-olds, but more selectively than two-year-olds, a fact which makes this age group especially interesting, since the processes underlying selective vs. exact imitation are largely debated. The question, for example, if selective attention to certain kinds of target actions accounts for preferential imitation of these actions in young infants is still open. Additionally, relations between memory capabilities and selective imitation processes, as well as their role in shaping 18-month-olds’ neither completely selective, nor completely exact imitation have not been thoroughly investigated yet. The present study, therefore, assessed 18-month-olds’ gaze toward two types of actions (functional vs. arbitrary target actions) and the model's face during target action demonstration, as well as infants’ deferred imitation performance. Although infants’ fixation times to functional target actions were not longer than to arbitrary target actions, they imitated the functional target actions more frequently than the arbitrary ones. This suggests that selective imitation does not rely on selective gaze toward functional target actions during the demonstration phase. In addition, a post hoc analysis of interindividual differences suggested that infants’ attention to the model's social-communicative cues might play an important role in exact imitation, meaning the imitation of both functional and arbitrary target actions.     

The reliability of a model influences 14-month-olds’ imitation

Human infants have an enormous amount to learn from others to become full-fledged members of their culture. Thus, it is important that they learn from reliable, rather than unreliable, models. In two experiments, we investigated whether 14-month-olds (a) imitate instrumental actions and (b) adopt the individual preferences of a model differently depending on the model’s previous reliability. Infants were shown a series of videos in which a model acted on familiar objects either competently or incompetently. They then watched as the same model demonstrated a novel action on an object (imitation task) and preferentially chose one of two novel objects (preference task). Infants’ imitation of the novel action was influenced by the model’s previous reliability; they copied the action more often when the model had been reliable. However, their preference for one of the novel objects was not influenced by the model’s previous reliability. We conclude that already by 14 months of age, infants discriminate between reliable and unreliable models when learning novel actions.     

The ontogeny of cumulative culture: Individual toddlers vary in faithful imitation and goal emulation

The success of human culture depends on early emerging mechanisms of social learning, which include the ability to acquire opaque cultural knowledge through faithful imitation, as well as the ability to advance culture through flexible discovery of new means to goal attainment. This study explores whether this mixture of faithful imitation and goal emulation is based in part on individual differences which emerge early in ontogeny. Experimental measurements and parental reports were collected for a group of 2‐year‐old children (N = 48, age = 23–32 months) on their imitative behavior as well as other aspects of cognitive and social development. Results revealed individual differences in children's imitative behavior across trials and tasks which were best characterized by a model that included two behavioral routines; one corresponding to faithful imitation, and one to goal emulation. Moreover, individual differences in faithful imitation and goal emulation were correlated with individual differences in theory of mind, prosocial behavior, and temperament. These findings were discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the mechanisms of social learning, ontogeny of cumulative culture, and the benefit of analyzing individual differences for developmental experiments.     

Delayed imitation of complex behavioural sequences by 14- to 16-month olds

The present study was conducted to determine if children under the age of 18 months can exhibit delayed imitation of three-event sequences when they have no opportunity to practice. Twenty-three 14- to 16-month-old children underwent two different imitation conditions. In the practice condition the children could imitate the sequence immediately after modelling; then they were tested 1 or 7 days later. In the no practice condition the children had the chance to imitate only on the test day. Children were able to imitate the sequences under both conditions irrespective of the delay period. They produced significantly more target actions, and more target actions in the correct order, in the test phase and cued recall phase, compared with the baseline. There were no differences between the two conditions with a 1-day delay period, but after a 7-day delay, the number of target actions produced during the practice condition was significantly higher than those in the no practice condition. The results are discussed in terms of nonverbal mimetic representations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Irrelevant‐action imitation is short‐term and contextual: Evidence from two under‐studied populations

Across the lifespan and across populations, humans ‘overimitate’ causally unnecessary behaviors. Such irrelevant‐action imitation facilitates faithful cultural transmission, but its immediate benefits to the imitator are controversial. Over short time scales, irrelevant‐action imitation may bootstrap artifact exploration or interpersonal affiliation, and over longer time scales it may facilitate acquisition of either causal models or social conventions. To investigate these putative functions, we recruited community samples from two under‐studied populations: Yasawa, Fiji, and Huatasani, Peru. We use a two‐action puzzle box: first after a video demonstration, and again one month later. Treating age as a continuous variable, we reveal divergent developmental trajectories across sites. Yasawans (44 adults, M = 39.9 years, 23 women; 42 children, M = 9.8 years, 26 girls) resemble documented patterns, with irrelevant‐action imitation increasing across childhood and plateauing in adulthood. In contrast, Huatasaneños (48 adults, M = 37.6 years, 33 women; 47 children, M = 9.3 years, 13 girls) evince a parabolic trajectory: adults at the site show the lowest irrelevant‐action imitation of any demographic set in our sample. In addition, all age sets in both populations reduce their irrelevant actions at Time 2, but do not reduce their relevant‐action imitation or goal attainment. Taken together, and considering the local cultural contexts, our results suggest that irrelevant‐action imitation serves a short‐term function and is sensitive to the social context of the demonstration.     

A comparison of between- and within-subjects imitation designs

Two experimental methods, which have dominated the study of declarative memory in preverbal children with imitation tasks, namely the deferred imitation and elicited imitation paradigm, differ in the amount of physical contact with test stimuli afforded infants prior to a test for long-term recall. The current study assessed effects of pre- and post-demonstration contact with test stimuli on deferred imitation of novel, single-step unrelated actions with multiple objects by 8½- and 10½-month-old infants (N = 50). The rate of target action completion after a delay remained consistent at both ages across different conditions of prior contact with test stimuli. This study shows that a within-subjects baseline appraisal is valid within certain experimental parameters and offers a more economical alternative. The results show furthermore that different experimental designs utilized to assess deferred imitation are highly comparable for the first year despite differences in determining baseline.     

Interindividual differences in neonatal sociality and emotionality predict juvenile social status in rhesus monkeys

In humans, socioeconomic status (SES) has profound outcomes on socio‐emotional development and health. However, while much is known about the consequences of SES, little research has examined the predictors of SES due to the longitudinal nature of such studies. We sought to explore whether interindividual differences in neonatal sociality, temperament, and early social experiences predicted juvenile social status in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), as a proxy for SES in humans. We performed neonatal imitation tests in infants’ first week of life and emotional reactivity assessments at 2 and 4 weeks of age. We examined whether these traits, as well as the rearing environment in the first 8 months of life (with the mother or with same‐aged peers only) and maternal social status predicted juvenile (2–3 years old) social status following the formation of peer social groups at 8 months. We found that infants who exhibited higher rates of neonatal imitation and newborn emotional reactivity achieved higher social status as juveniles, as did infants who were reared with their mothers, compared to infants reared with peers. Maternal social status was only associated with juvenile status for infant dyads reared in the same maternal group, indicating that relative social relationships were transferred through social experience. These results suggest that neonatal imitation and emotional reactivity may reflect ingrained predispositions toward sociality that predict later outcomes, and that nonnormative social experiences can alter socio‐developmental trajectories. Our results indicate that neonatal characteristics and early social experiences predict later social outcomes in adolescence, including gradients of social stratification.     

Adaptation of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning for use among infants aged 5‐ to 24‐months in rural Gambia

Infants in low‐resource settings are at heightened risk for compromised cognitive development due to a multitude of environmental insults in their surroundings. However, the onset of adverse outcomes and trajectory of cognitive development in these settings is not well understood. The aims of the present study were to adapt the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) for use with infants in a rural area of The Gambia, to examine cognitive development in the first 24‐months of life and to assess the association between cognitive performance and physical growth. In Phase 1 of this study, the adapted MSEL was tested on 52 infants aged 9‐ to 24‐months (some of whom were tested longitudinally at two time points). Further optimization and training were undertaken and Phase 2 of the study was conducted, where the original measures were administered to 119 newly recruited infants aged 5‐ to 24‐months. Infant length, weight and head circumference were measured concurrently in both phases. Participants from both phases were split into age categories of 5–9 m (N = 32), 10–14 m (N = 92), 15–19 m (N = 53) and 20–24 m (N = 43) and performance was compared across age groups. From the ages of 10–14 m, Gambian infants obtained lower MSEL scores than US norms. Performance decreased with age and was lowest in the 20–24 m old group. Differential onsets of reduced performance were observed in the individual MSEL domains, with declines in visual perception and motor performance detected as early as at 10–14 months, while reduced language scores became evident after 15–19 months of age. Performance on the MSEL was significantly associated with measures of growth.     

Motor imagery during action observation enhances imitation of everyday rhythmical actions in children with and without developmental coordination disorder

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) exhibit deficits both in imitation and motor imagery (MI) compared to typically developing children. Combined action observation and motor imagery (AO + MI) instructions can however enhance automatic imitation in both groups. In the present study we investigated the effects of AO + MI instructions on intentional imitation in children both with (n = 13) and without DCD (n = 12). On each trial participants observed and/or imagined before executing a familiar rhythmical pantomime action. These target actions were either habitually fast (tooth brushing or window wiping) or habitually slow (paint brushing or face washing), in the vertical or horizontal plane. Within each habitual speed, the target action speed was subtly manipulated across trials (fast vs. slow). Instruction condition was manipulated across three blocks of 16 trials: (1) observe before imitating the target action; (2) observe then imagine the action before imitating; (3) observe while imagining the same action before imitating (AO + MI). Kinematic analyses revealed typically developing children imitated the observed cycle times significantly better than children with DCD. A main effect of instruction showed imitation improved for AO + MI compared to the other two instructions. Within-group analyses found a significant advantage in DCD for AO + MI compared to observe then imagine. In typically developing children, imitation was significantly enhanced for AO + MI compared to observe then imitate. Combined AO + MI instructions therefore represent a promising new approach to refining performance of everyday rhythmical actions in children both with and without DCD, with implications for movement therapy and sports training.     

Deferred imitation in 18-month-olds from two cultural contexts: The case of Cameroonian Nso farmer and German-middle class infants

Imitative learning has been described in naturalistic studies for different cultures, but lab-based research studying imitative learning across different cultural contexts is almost missing. Therefore, imitative learning was assessed with 18-month-old German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso farmer infants – representing two highly different eco-cultural contexts associated with different cultural models, the psychological autonomy and the hierarchical relatedness – by using the deferred imitation paradigm. Study 1 revealed that the infants from both cultural contexts performed a higher number of target actions in the deferred imitation than in the baseline phase. Moreover, it was found that German middle-class infants showed a higher mean imitation rate as they performed more target actions in the deferred imitation phase compared with Cameroonian Nso farmer infants. It was speculated that the opportunity to manipulate the test objects directly after the demonstration of the target actions could enhance the mean deferred imitation rate of the Cameroonian Nso farmer infants which was confirmed in Study 2. Possible explanations for the differences in the amount of imitated target actions of German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso farmer infants are discussed considering the object-related, dyadic setting of the imitation paradigm with respect to the different learning contexts underlying the different cultural models of learning.     

High Self-Deceivers Internalize Self-Presentation of Extraversion Through Biased Evaluation of Their Performance1

This study examined whether high self-deceivers form their overly positive perception of their traits through overestimating their performance of self-presentation where they need to impress others as being extraverted/introverted, exhibiting more internalization of self-presentation (IOSP) of the trait. Participants were instructed to give either an extraverted or introverted impression through an oral (Study 1, N = 39) or written (Study 2, N = 62) self-presentation. Participants reported dispositional self-deception, self-presentation efficacy, and extraversion before and after self-presentation. Independent raters provided other-reported extraversion by examining the self-presentation. Across the two studies, two-way mixed ANOVA revealed that predicted change in extraversion occurred only for participants who made extraverted self-presentation. With the change in extraversion as an index of IOSP, mediation analyses revealed indirect effects of dispositional self-deception on IOSP via self-presentation efficacy but not other-reported extraversion. These results suggested that (a) people only internalize socially desirable traits like extraversion but not introversion, (b) writing to others is sufficient to cause IOSP, and (c) high self-deceivers internalize extraverted self-presentation not through actual performance but its subjective evaluation.     

Word comprehension mediates the link between gesture and word production: Examining language development in infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder

Children's gesture production precedes and predicts language development, but the pathways linking these domains are unclear. It is possible that gesture production assists in children's developing word comprehension, which in turn supports expressive vocabulary acquisition. The present study examines this mediation pathway in a population with variability in early communicative abilities—the younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; high‐risk infants, HR). Participants included 92 HR infants and 28 infants at low risk (LR) for ASD. A primary caregiver completed the MacArthur‐Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson, et al., 1993) at 12, 14, and 18 months, and HR infants received a diagnostic evaluation for ASD at 36 months. Word comprehension at 14 months mediated the relationship between 12‐month gesture and 18‐month word production in LR and HR infants (ab = 0.263; p < 0.01). For LR infants and HR infants with no diagnosis or language delay, gesture was strongly associated with word comprehension (as = 0.666; 0.646; 0.561; ps < 0.01). However, this relationship did not hold for infants later diagnosed with ASD (a = 0.073; p = 0.840). This finding adds to a growing literature suggesting that children with ASD learn language differently. Furthermore, this study provides an initial step toward testing the developmental pathways by which infants transition from early actions and gestures to expressive language.     

Personality trait scores among occupationally active bullied persons and witnesses to bullying

There is little research on the personalities and emotional stability of persons who report being bullied or witnessing bullying at work. Men and women (N = 247) from 19 to 64 years of age and in manual labour completed a questionnaire concerning the psychosocial work climate, bullying and personality. Three groups were defined: bullied (N = 14), witnesses (N = 31) and non-bullied respondents (N = 202). The Swedish universities Scale of Personality was used to assess personality traits related to the three major dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, and aggressiveness. Bullied persons had higher scores on all six scales within the neuroticism dimension as well as higher irritability (aggressiveness dimension) and impulsiveness scores (extraversion dimension), when compared with their non-bullied work colleagues. To conclude, bullied persons display a self-image that is dominated by mistrust and embitterment as well as irritability and impulsiveness. Accordingly, when dealing with bullying at work, the need for ego-supportive actions should be considered in conjunction with more organisational, collective oriented action.     

Music interferes with learning from television during infancy

Infants are frequently exposed to music during daily activities, including free play, and while viewing infant‐directed videotapes that contain instrumental music soundtracks. In Experiment 1, an instrumental music soundtrack was played during a live or televised demonstration to examine its effects on deferred imitation by 6‐, 12‐, and 18‐month‐old infants. Transfer of information was indexed via deferred imitation of the target actions following a 24‐h delay. For half the infants, the music context was also reinstated at the time of test. Performance by experimental groups was compared to that of a baseline control group that participated in the test session without prior exposure to the demonstration. Imitation performance was above baseline for the live groups but not for the video groups regardless of age or the music context at test. In Experiment 2, we added matched sound effects to the video demonstration and infants performed above baseline. We conclude that the music track creates additional cognitive load, disrupts selective attention to the target actions and inhibits transfer of learning from television of the imitation task. Music may impair an infant's ability to translate information from a two‐dimensional to three‐dimensional world even if the auditory context remains the same. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children over-imitate adults and peers more than puppets

Researchers commonly use puppets in development science. Amongst other things, puppets are employed to reduce social hierarchies between child participants and adult experimenters akin to peer interactions. However, it remains controversial whether children treat puppets like real-world social partners in these settings. This study investigated children's imitation of causally irrelevant actions (i.e., over-imitation) performed by puppet, adult, or child models. Seventy-two German children (Age_Range = 4.6–6.5 years; 36 girls) from urban, socioeconomically diverse backgrounds observed a model retrieving stickers from reward containers. The model performed causally irrelevant actions either in contact with the reward container or not. Children were more likely to over-imitate adults’ and peers’ actions as compared to puppets’ actions. Across models, they copied contact actions more than no-contact actions. While children imitate causally irrelevant actions from puppet models to some extent, their social learning from puppets does not necessarily match their social learning from real-world social agents, such as children or adults.

Research Highlights

• We examined children's over-imitation from adult, child, and puppet models to validate puppetry as an approach to simulate non-hierarchical interactions.
• Children imitated adults and child models at slightly higher rates than puppets.
• This effect was present regardless of whether the irrelevant actions involved physical contact to the reward container or not.
• In our study children's social learning from puppets does not match their social learning from human models.

     

The effect of the model's presence and of negative evidence on infants' selective imitation

This study demonstrated selective “rational” imitation in infants in two testing conditions: in the presence or absence of the model during the response phase. In the study, 14-month-olds were more likely to imitate a tool-use behavior when a prior failed attempt emphasized the logical reason and relevance of introducing this novel means, making it cognitively transparent for the infants. Infants also learned imitatively from the cognitively opaque (yet socially communicated) modeling situation, but to a lesser degree. Furthermore, the presence of the model as a social partner during testing influenced the performance of infants in that they were more likely to imitate the novel means when the model was present during testing. These results highlight the important interaction of interpretive schemas (e.g., causality, teleological stance) and social communicative cues in action interpretation guiding imitative learning.     

Infants’ and adults’ looking behavior does not indicate perceptual distraction for constrained modelled actions − An eye-tracking study

When observing a novel action, infants pay attention to the model’s constraints when deciding whether to imitate this action or not. Gergely et al. (2002) found that more 14-month-olds copied a model’s use of her head to operate a lamp when she used her head while her hands were free than when she had to use this means because it was the only means available to her (i.e., her hands were occupied). The perceptional distraction account (Beisert et al., 2012) claims that differences between conditions in terms of the amount of attention infants paid to the modeled action caused the differences in infants’ performance between conditions. In order to investigate this assumption we presented 14-month-olds (N = 34) with an eye-tracking paradigm and analyzed their looking behavior when observing the head-touch demonstration in the two original conditions. Subsequently, they had the chance to operate the apparatus themselves, and we measured their imitative responses. In order to explore the perceptional processes taking place in this paradigm in adulthood, we also presented adults (N = 31) with the same task. Apart from the fact that we did not replicate the findings in imitation with our participants, the eye-tracking results do not support the perceptional distraction account: infants did not statistically differ − not even tendentially − in their amount of looking at the modeled action in both conditions. Adults also did not statistically differ in their looking at the relevant action components. However, both groups predominantly observed the relevant head action. Consequently, infants and adults do not seem to attend differently to constrained and unconstrained modelled actions.     

The social foundation of executive function

In this study, we propose that infant social cognition may ‘bootstrap' the successive development of domain‐general cognition in line with the cultural intelligence hypothesis. Using a longitudinal design, 6‐month‐old infants (N = 118) were assessed on two basic social cognitive tasks targeting the abilities to share attention with others and understanding other peoples' actions. At 10 months, we measured the quality of the child's social learning environment, indexed by parent's abilities to provide scaffolding behaviors during a problem‐solving task. Eight months later, the children were followed up with a cognitive test‐battery, including tasks of inhibitory control and working memory. Our results showed that better infant social action understanding interacted with better parental scaffolding skills in predicting simple inhibitory control in toddlerhood. This suggests that infants' who are better at understanding other's actions are also better equipped to make the most of existing social learning opportunities, which in turn may benefit future non‐social cognitive outcomes.