The development of copying behaviours of a group of infants from 9 to 15 months of age is analysed. These behaviours are classified according to their type (mimetic or imitated) and function (instrumental, social or hybrid). The function of the behaviours is derived from observable indicators linked to dyadic interaction. Mimetic behaviours are…

Fourteen-month-olds selectively imitated a sub-efficient means (illuminating a lightbox by a head-touch) when this was modeled by linguistic ingroup members in video-demonstrations. A follow-up study with slightly older infants, however, could replicate this effect only in a video-demonstration context. Hence it still remains unclear whether…

The meaning, mechanism, and function of imitation in early infancy have been actively discussed since Meltzoff and Moore's (1977) report of facial and manual imitation by human neonates. Oostenbroek et al. (2016) claim to challenge the existence of early imitation and to counter all interpretations so far offered. Such claims, if true, would have…

The early phase of imitation was studied in children between 6 and 18 months by means of the presentation of 22 actions. (SB)

Two experiments involving two sets of actions using two stimuli sets examined deferred imitation to trace changes in memory retrieval by 18- to 30-month-olds. Results indicated that target action recall with different stimuli increased as a function of age, particularly after a delay. A unique verbal label facilitated 24-month-olds' performance…

Five experiments with 12-, 15-, and 18-month-olds examined 276 infants' ability to learn from television under semi-naturalistic conditions. Findings indicated that infants of all ages imitated live-modeled actions. There were age- and task-related differences in infants' ability to imitate the same television-modeled actions. Findings highlighted…

Selected vocal and gestural imitation items were presented to twenty-four 8-, 14- and 20-month-old boys and girls in an elicited task situation. Both vocal and gestural imitation increased with age, although for each age group there was significantly more gestural than vocal imitation. (BD)

This study examined the development of imitation under naturalistic conditions. Participating were 320 parents, who provided diary records of imitation by their 12-, 15-, and 18-month-old infants over a 7-day period. Approximately half of the infants were first-borns and half had older siblings. The findings indicated that infants of all ages…

Examines imitation of motor, vocal, and verbal behaviors by infants 10 to 16 months old. The imitation battery consisted of 21 behaviors in four motor and two vocal categories. The familiarity or novelty of individual behaviors was assessed through maternal interviews. Results are discussed in terms of Uzgaris' (1981) conceptualization of two…

Investigated effects of older siblings on imitation by 12-, 15-, and 18-month-olds. Found that all age groups acquired one to two new behaviors per day through imitation. Older infants imitated more multi-step sequences and substituted more objects during reenactment than younger. Compared to infants without siblings, infants with siblings…

Investigated developmental change in symbolic representational ability by examining infants' imitation of vocalizations, words, visible motor actions, and nonvisible motor behaviors at ages 10, 13, 17, and 21 months. Results revealed a pattern of increasing imitation, supporting the view that a domain-independent representational capacity develops…

This demonstration study examines the affective reactions of infants when they imitate or fail to imitate play behavior modeled by an adult. Subjects were twenty-four 18-month-old and twenty-four 24-month-old male and female infants. Each infant visited the laboratory twice with an inter-session interval of 48 hours. At each session, the infant…