The ghost condition: imitation versus emulation in young children's observational learning |
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Authors: | Thompson Doreen E Russell James |
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Affiliation: | Department of Psychology, U Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. d.thompson@strath.ac.uk |
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Abstract: | Although observational learning by children may occur through imitating a modeler's actions, it can also occur through learning about an object's dynamic affordances--a process that M. Tomasello (1996) calls "emulation." The relative contributions of imitation and emulation within observational learning were examined in a study with 14- to 26-month-old children. The effectiveness of a "ghost" condition, in which the effective operation of the means apparatus was seen to occur without human agency, was compared with that of a standard modeling procedure in which the child saw an experimenter demonstrate the means action. The ghost condition was as likely to encourage observational learning as was the modeling condition; indeed, performance in the ghost condition was significantly better. The role of emulation in the development of observational learning is discussed in the context of a possible form of goal directedness without agency. |
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