Imitation In Childhood Research Articles

Imitation in Chinese Preschool Children: Influence of Prior Self-Experience and Pedagogical Cues on the Imitation of Novel Acts in a Non-Western Culture.

Both prior experience and pedagogical cues modulate Western children’s imitation. However, these factors have not been systematically explored together within a single study. This paper explored how these factors individually and together influence imitation using 4-year-old children born and reared in mainland China (N = 210)—a country that contains almost one-fifth of the world’s population, and in which childhood imitation is under-studied using experimental methodology. The behavior of children in this culture is of special interest to theory because traditional East Asian culture places high value on conformity and fitting in with the group. Thus, high-fidelity imitation is emphasized in the local culture. This value, practice, or norm may be recognized by children at a young age and influence their imitative performance. In this study, we crossed prior self-experience and pedagogical cues, yielding four demonstration groups in addition to a control group. This design allowed us to investigate the degree to which Chinese preschoolers’ imitation was modulated by the two experimental factors. High-fidelity imitation was significantly modulated by prior self-experience but not by pedagogical cues, as measured by the number of novel acts imitated and also the serial order of these acts. This study (i) expands our understanding of factors that modulate imitation of novel behaviors in preschoolers and (ii) contributes to efforts to broaden research beyond Western societies to enrich our theories, particularly regarding social learning and imitation. Imitation is a key mechanism in the acquisition of culturally appropriate behaviors, mannerisms, and norms but who, what, and when children imitate is malleable. This study points to both cross-cultural invariants and variations to provide a fuller picture of the scope and functions of childhood imitation.

Emotional Memory Forever: The Cinematography of Paul Ewing

Emotional Memory Forever: The Cinematography of Paul Ewing

Jessica Riskin. The Restless Clock: A History of the Centuries-Long Argument over What Makes Living Things Tick. xiii + 548 pp., illus., bibl., index. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2016. $40 (cloth).

Jessica Riskin. <i>The Restless Clock: A History of the Centuries-Long Argument over What Makes Living Things Tick</i>. xiii + 548 pp., illus., bibl., index. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2016. $40 (cloth).

Imitation: Not in Our Genes

A powerful longitudinal study has failed to find any evidence that newborn babies can imitate facial gestures, hand movements or vocalisations. After 40 years of uncertainty, these findings indicate that humans learn to imitate; this capacity is not inborn.

Phonetic imitation by young children and its developmental changes.

In the current study, the author investigated the developmental course of phonetic imitation in childhood, and further evaluated existing accounts of phonetic imitation. Sixteen preschoolers, 15 third graders, and 18 college students participated in the current study. An experiment with a modified imitation paradigm with a picture-naming task was conducted, in which participants' voice-onset time (VOT) was compared before and after they were exposed to target speech with artificially increased VOT. Extended VOT in the target speech was imitated by preschoolers and 3rd graders as well as adults, confirming previous findings in phonetic imitation. Furthermore, an age effect of phonetic imitation was observed; namely, children showed greater imitation than adults, whereas the degree of imitation was comparable between preschoolers and 3rd graders. No significant effect of gender or word specificity was observed. Young children imitated fine phonetic details of the target speech, and greater degree of phonetic imitation was observed in children compared to adults. These findings suggest that the degree of phonetic imitation negatively correlates with phonological development.

Children's early helping in action: Piagetian developmental theory and early prosocial behavior.

After a brief overview of recent research on early helping, outlining some central problems, and issues, this paper examines children’s early helping through the lens of Piagetian moral and developmental theory, drawing on Piaget’s “Moral Judgment of the Child” (Piaget, 1932/1997), “Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood” (Piaget, 1945/1951), and the “Grasp of Consciousness” (Piaget, 1976). Piaget refers to a level of moral development in action that precedes heteronomous and autonomous moral reasoning. This action level allows children to begin to interact with people and objects. In his later work, Piaget explores the gradual construction of understanding from this activity level. Taken together, these elements of Piagetian theory provide a promising conceptual framework for understanding the development of early helping.

From Childhood Imitation Based Studying to a Knowledge Based Society

From Childhood Imitation Based Studying to a Knowledge Based Society

Pretherapy from a Developmental Perspective

The starting-point of this article was one published earlier in the Dutch Journal of Client-Centered Psychotherapytitled “Some Comments on Imitation and Intersubjectivity in Neonates and Infants in Relation to Some Forms of Psychotherapy” (Peters, 2003). In that article, I demonstrated the importance of imitation in early life for well-developed intersubjectivity and for a well-established functional development in general. The intention of this article is a more thorough investigation into the possible relationship between imitation, intersubjectivity, and pretherapy. Although I published an extended article on pretherapy in this journal (Peters, 1999) I first give a summarized version of the principles of pretherapy. In the second part, I expand on some relevant research on early childhood imitation and intersubjectivity, whereas the third part deals with the relation between imitation, intersubjectivity, and pretherapeutic reflections, which places pretherapy in a developmental psychological frame of reference.

Patients' representations of therapist, parents, and self in the early phase of psychotherapy.

Patients' representations of therapist, parents, and self in the early phase of psychotherapy.

Punishment as a factor in early childhood imitation

Abstract Changes in two children's imitative behavior were examined in an ABAB design as a function of adult model's use of differential attention and time-out. The children were classified by their teachers, parents, and supplementary service personnel as highly oppositional to adult instructions. Each child was treated by a different teacher/ model in thr same preschool setting. The results showed that the children's oppositional behavior varied predictably with the presence and absence of differential attention and time-out. As expected, imitative behavior occurred more frequently during intervention periods than during baseline periods, even though imitation was not reinforced. The children also interacted with their individual teacher/models more often when the teacher/models used differential attention and time-out, even though the proportion of adult attention that occured concurrently with social interaction did not vary across the experimental conditions. Any one or a combination of four factors could have been responsible for the results: (1) quality of teacher/model attention, (2) enhancement of the teacher/models' social reinforcement value, (3) alertness of the children to their teacher/models, and (4) the children's perceptions of their teacher/models.

Adult discipline as a factor in childhood imitation

The present study examined changes in two children's imitative behavior as a function of the model's use of timeout and differential attention. Subjects were two children, one classified by her parents, the other classified by his teacher, as highly oppositional to adult requests or commands. The former child was treated by the parents in the home setting; the latter child was treated by the teacher in a preschool setting. Results showed that the children's oppositional behavior varied predictably with the presence and absence of adult use of time-out and differential attention. As expected, imitative behavior of both children was greater during treatment periods than during baseline periods.

Piaget, Jean. Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood. New York: W. W. Norton &amp; Company, Inc. (The Norton Library, N171), 1962, 296 p., $1.85 (paper)

Psychology in the SchoolsVolume 3, Issue 2 p. 189-189 Book Review Piaget, Jean. Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (The Norton Library, N171), 1962, 296 p., $1.85 (paper) First published: April 1966 https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6807(196604)3:2<189::AID-PITS2310030222>3.0.CO;2-ZCitations: 2AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume3, Issue2April 1966Pages 189-189 RelatedInformation

Review of Play, dreams and imitation in childhood.

Review of Play, dreams and imitation in childhood.

Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood

Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood

Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood by Jean Piaget

(1953). Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood by Jean Piaget. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 345-347.

Formation of Symbols in the Child's Mind

Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood By Prof. Jean Piaget. Translated by C. Gattegno and F. M. Hodgson. Pp. x + 296. (London: William Heinemann, Ltd., in association with the New Education Fellowship, 1951.) 21s. net.

Review of Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood.

Review of Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood.

Play, dreams and imitation in childhood.

Play, dreams and imitation in childhood.