Measuring procedural imitation aptitude in children: further validation of the Preschool Imitation and Praxis Scale (PIPS)

The Preschool Imitation and Praxis Scale (PIPS) was developed to measure bodily and procedural imitation aptitude in young children. However, the investigation of procedural imitation is more complex than that of bodily imitation. The procedural imitation tasks of the PIPS mainly consisted of unusual acts upon objects (for example, switching on a lamp in a toy animal with the forehead). This study assessed the suitability of these tasks by ruling out nonimitative learning in 15 typically developing children between 12 and 55 mo. of age (6 girls, 9 boys). Results indicated that the tasks seem novel and unlikely to be performed spontaneously by the children. In addition, the number of target acts performed by the children in the imitation condition was significantly higher than in the baseline, investigator-manipulation, and imitation-enhancement nonimitative control conditions. Finally, the tasks elicited more frequently imitative behaviour than end-state emulation. Therefore, the tasks appear appropriate to measure procedural imitation, and the findings support the theoretical validity of the PIPS.