Publication Type: Individual Poster
Abstract: Background and Aims: Infants’ imitation has been positively correlated with many aspects of their development. Recently researchers have begun to look beyond the initial imitation to consider whether infants recognize imitation since Meltzoff and Gopnik (1993) asserted that imitation recognition is a precursor to development of “theory-of-mind”. If imitation recognition is to be investigated, researchers need to develop definitions and descriptions of imitation recognition. Yet, few studies have systematically documented behaviors occurring after imitation. To create a developmental perspective on infants’ responses to imitation, this study investigated behavioral responses to verbal, vocal, and action imitation in a longitudinal sample of infants as they played at home with their mothers.

Methods: Twenty mother-infant dyads were videotaped as they played at 10, 13, 17, and 21 months. The first infant behavior/s that followed maternal action and vocal/verbal imitations were coded into one of the following exclusive, broad categories: No Reaction, Return Imitations, and Social Responses. Return Imitations included repetitions, reductions, expansions, and testing behavior. Social Responses included responsive signals (i.e. laughter, smiles, vocalizations, and gestures), responsive actions, and responsive words.

Key Results: Infants responded often (76% to 92%) to being imitated at all ages. Return Imitation decreased (70% to 18%) and Social Responses increased (22% to 63%) with age. Infants also responded differentially to action and vocal/verbal imitations. Infants used more Social Responses (68%) than Returns (32%) after vocal/verbal imitations but used Social Responses (43%) and Returns (57%) similarly after action imitations. Infants returned more action than vocal/verbal imitations and responded socially to more vocal/verbal than action imitations. Infants used Social Responses differently dependent upon age and imitation type. Infants rarely used responsive words. They used responsive signals and responsive actions similarly with age after vocal/verbal imitation but used responsive actions more often with age after action imitation.

Conclusions: Overall, infants had a strong propensity to respond to imitation with an action. They returned more imitations at younger ages when action imitations predominated. At older ages when vocal/verbal imitations predominated, infants responded more often with social behaviors which were most often responsive actions. Most social responses to action imitations were actions, and approximately half of the social responses to vocal/verbal imitations were actions. Infants did not ignore vocal/verbal imitations as previous studies implied, they just responded with responsive actions that have not been coded in previous studies. Researchers need to consider a wide range of behaviors that might signal imitation recognition.