Toddler Overimitation Could Indicate Learning Process, Rather Than Formation of Social Connections
Children Under Two Show Minimal Overimitation: Study
A study from Concordia University has found that toddlers aged 16-21 months exhibit low rates of overimitation, a tendency to copy unnecessary actions, and this behavior is not driven by an affinity towards similar individuals.
The research, published in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, was led by Marilyne Dragon, a PhD student at Concordia's Cognitive and Language Development Lab. The study aimed to examine the emergence of overimitation in infancy and its relationship with social affiliation and other forms of imitation.
"Previous literature suggests that overimitation occurs because people want to affiliate with the person demonstrating actions," explains Dragon. "They want to show that they aspire to be like them. However, our findings indicate that this social motivation behind overimitation may emerge later in childhood."
While overimitation was minimal, other types of imitation linked to memory and cognition were present. The results of the research suggest that toddlers imitate, but their social motivations for overimitation may develop later.
For the study, 73 toddlers were assigned four tasks designed to test specific types of imitation. The tasks were structured to rely on an experimenter demonstrating a task to the child, who would then be scored based on their responses. The tasks included overimitation, elicited imitation, imitation of unfulfilled intentions, and an in-group preference task.
The overimitation task involved opening a box containing a toy in a sequence of three actions, including an irrelevant step. The elicited imitation task, originally designed to test memory, required the child to copy a sequence of three actions accurately, like putting a teddy bear to bed with a pillow and blanket.
The unfulfilled intentions task involved an experimenter attempting but failing to accomplish a task, such as placing a string of beads in a cup. The child was then asked to complete the task successfully. Finally, the in-group preference task had the child seated in front of a screen showing a woman and a robot holding the same plush animal side by side and performing the same actions simultaneously. The children were scored on whether they reached for the robot's or the woman's toy first.
The results showed that only the elicited imitation and unfulfilled intentions imitation tasks were closely correlated. The in-group preference and overimitation tasks were not related.
Interestingly, Dragon and her team found a link between overimitation and in-group preference in a later study, which will soon be published. By the age of four and a half, children who overimitate more tend to prefer children who are similar in gender and ethnicity, demonstrating a developmental pattern with overimitation being linked to knowledge about group membership.
Dragon concludes that further study is needed to fully understand the emergence of overimitation, given its importance in childhood development. "Parents and teachers should be aware that children will imitate them, including actions that are not essential," she advises. "We want children to develop critical thinking skills."
The study was supported by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
- The study in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, led by Marilyne Dragon, delved into the relationship between overimitation and social affiliation, a topic commonly discussed in neuroscience news.
- Dragon's research discovered that while overimitation was minimal among toddlers, other forms of imitation related to memory and cognition were present, touching upon the field of psychology.
- Surprisingly, the results revealed a correlation between overimitation and in-group preference in a later study, suggesting that overimitation could be connected to motivation and mental health.
- As parents and educators, it's crucial to encourage health-and-wellness practices that promote critical thinking skills, as children are prone to imitate actions, both essential and non-essential, as concluded by the neuroscience study on toddlers' imitation behaviors.
