Goal-directed imitation in pre-school and elementary school children

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2011

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Fallahzadeh, Pardis

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Imitation is a fundamental way of acquiring knowledge in human development. In their theory of goal-directed imitation (GOADI), Wohlschläger et al. (2003) divide the representation of observed movements into hierarchically organized aspects the highest of which is usually the goal. In a face-to-face imitation task young children usually copy the (spatial) goal of the body movement in terms of perceptual mirror symmetry rather than match them conceptually onto their own body, as adults do. We refer to these imitation schemes as “mirroring” and “matching” respectively. In the present study, we investigate the effects of age and perspective of the child with respect to the experimenter (0°, 90°, 180°) in two imitation tasks, a hand-to-ear and a cup-grasping task. Moreover, we evaluate the developmental changes in the imitative behavior of children from a dynamical systems perspective. Children were supposed to imitate the movements of the experimenter. Tasks were conducted on 4.5- to 11-year-old Iranian pre-school and elementary school children (81 female, 84 male). Imitation scores for the spatial goal were analyzed in terms of mirroring or matching. Imitation schemes varied according to age and perspective in both tasks. Overall, older children’s imitations of movements were more adult-like as established by an adult Iranian control group than those of the younger ones. They rather matched than mirrored observed movements. In the 180° and 90° conditions the mirroring scheme was predominant, but in 0° matching was predominant. GOADI was confirmed; however it was qualified by the child's perspective on the experimenter. Children’s imitations showed a non-linear shift from perceptually-based mirroring to conceptually-based matching of observed movements onto their own body. This shift happens between 6 and 8-9 years of age. The amount of matching depends not only on age but also on control parameters such as spatial perspective, task demands, and exposure.

Subject Keywords

Imitation in children.

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http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613884/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/20892

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Graduate School of Informatics, Thesis

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Citation Formats

P. Fallahzadeh, “Goal-directed imitation in pre-school and elementary school children,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2011.