Children’s Imitation is Affected by Goals, but the Goals are Outstanding Action Characteristics rather than Action Outcomes

Takashi Mizuguchi,Ryujiro Suzuki,Ryoko Sugimura,Toshisada Deguchi

doi:10.4236/psych.2011.28132

Abstract

It has been proposed that imitation in children is strongly affected by goals extracted from others’ movements. More specifically, imitation-specific goal selection, or a tendency that movement outcomes, rather than means, are more likely to be selected as goals, has been proposed. Conversely, research on imitation in adults has proposed the generalist hypothesis, or the hypothesis that relatively dominant characteristics in movements are simply selected as goals, in the recent years. The present study tested the validity of imitation-specific goal selection with 64 children (M age = 5.2, age range: 4.1 - 6.0) using tasks that were similar to those used in research on imitation in adults. Movements composed of four elements were presented, and errors were analyzed by component. In this process, coloring emphasized one of the four elements, and presentation order of the elements was changed. Results suggested that relatively accentuating a specific element by coloring reduced the errors on the element. In the control condition in which coloring was not applied, the fewest errors were for means. Overall, the results did not support validity of imitation-specific goal selection in children, indicative of the validity the generalist hypothesis.

Highlights

Imitation plays a central role in acquisition of culture
A special processing associated with imitation was not supported, and instead, it was demonstrated that when an element was relatively emphasized in the whole, the movement outcome was not necessarily selected as a goal
Signed rank tests resulted in a pattern of end point accentuation condition < effecter accentuation condition ≒ treatment accentuation condition ≒ control condition (p < .01)

Summary

Introduction

Imitation plays a central role in acquisition of culture. We inherit cultural products and imagination of the earlier generations through imitation. The role that imitation plays is extremely significant for children who are in the process of participating in the culture and group that surround them. Several theories and models of the transformation process from perception to movement have been proposed (Rumiati & Bekkering, 2003). They can be largely grouped into perspectives that support direct and automatic transformation and those that do not. The former group asserts that others’ movement is transformed into ones’ own directly and automatically as though they communicated with each other. The latter asserts that the transformation process from others’ movement to ones’ own is mediated by a special processing

Methods

Results

Conclusion