Imitation in childhood

1. What Great Things Can Children Learn by Imitating the Elders? You’llfrequentlyhearme saythatchildrenlearnthroughplay,that youshouldprovide open-endedmaterialsto encourageexploration and discovery. Butit’snotcompletelytrue. There’samoreimportantandprimitive forceatwork that shapes yourchild’slearning longbeforeshestartstoexperimentwithmakeuporcollage,blocksornaturalmaterials: Imitation. Weallknowthatourchildrencopyothers,for bothgoodandbad. But when does itstart? And what purposedoesit serve?

2. It used to be believed that newborns could imitate an adult’s facial expressions, that imitation was innate.Stickyourtongueoutand yourbaby stickshers outinresponse. Newsubstantiationsuggeststhatthisskillmay developlatterlybutwhat’sbeyond mistrustfulness is that by the time children reach 8 months, they can imitate simple actions. Shake a rattle or put your hands up to play peekaboo and your child will do the same.

3. Howdoes yourbabylearntoimitate? Bywatchingyouimitateher.Babieshaveveritably littlecontrolovertheir bodies.Lying underthebabygym,armsandlegsdelirium.A limbtouchesajinglytoy-howexciting! Butwhich limb was it? Howcan this newexperience berepeated? Whenyou’rejust afewmonthsold,thiskindofmotorcollaborationishard. But what if you repeat the movement yourself? Your baby smiles; you match herexpression. Your baby claps; youmatch heraction. Makeeyecontact.Showthatyou’reengaged.Copyherfacialexpressions.Repeatthe soundsshemakeswhenshebabbles.You’redrawingherattentiontowhatshehas done,whichhelpshertoreproduceitlatterly.And in thisway,sheultimatelylearnsto copy you. Shehaslearnt toimitate.

4. Deferredimitation At first, infants simply mimic what's in front of them. But soon enough they learn to postpone imitation, to do it hours or indeed days later, without the original model to copy. There’sdebateaboutwhatage childrenstarttomakementalrepresentationsofactions orconduct.Beforethispoint,trueimitationisnotpossiblebecauseyoucan’treplicate something you don’tremember.Yourmemoryhasto developtothepointwhereyou canrecordwhatyou see so thatitcan berepeatedlater. Once youcanretrieveactions fromyourmemory,itbecomespossibletoreenact them usingdifferentobjects.YesterdayIwatchedyoubangabarrelwithabeater.The momentIrememberwhatyou didandusearattletobangitrather.Therattlestandsin for thebeater. Andsodeferredimitationultimatelyleadstosymbolicplay.

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