Abstract
Research investigating the imitation or matching of adult facial gestures by infants during the first months of life is reviewed. It is suggested that the matching observed during early infancy can best be attributed to biologically wired-in mechanisms. Counter to Piaget's epigenetic approach, it is proposed that such imitation does not serve as the basis for more advanced cognitive functioning. Neonatal imitation is viewed as having a function of maintaining adult/infant social interaction until infants are capable of intentionally influencing such interactions themselves. Neonatal imitation is interpreted as being an example of a transient ontogenetic adaptation, with imitativelike responses having a specific role in survival during early infancy only, and disappearing when they are no longer necessary.
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