Imitation under de första levnadsmånaderna

Abstract

Heimann, M. (1989). Imitation during the first months of life—what we know and what we don't know. Nordisk Psykologi, 41, 193–203. The paper presents a review of research conducted within the area of neonatal imitation. It is concluded that neonatal imitation (especially imitation of tongue protrusion) seems to be a robust phenomenon. Furthermore, recent findings also indicate that (1) individual differences in imitation are present during the first month of life, and (2) that neonatal imitation is related to the infants' behavior when interacting face-to-face with the mother. However, several questions concerning neonatal imitation remain unanswered. For example, we know almost nothing about the long-term relationship between imitation within the neonatal period and later emerging imitation when the child is 9 to 18 months old.