Work

Learning the rules: Observation and imitation of a sorting strategy by 36-month-old children.

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: Two experiments were used to investigate the scope of imitation by testing whether 36-month-olds can learn to produce a categorization strategy through observation. After witnessing an adult sort a set of objects by a visible property (their color; Experiment 1) or a nonvisible property (the particular sounds produced when the objects were shaken; Experiment 2), children showed significantly more sorting by those dimensions relative to children in control groups, including a control in which children saw the sorted endstate but not the intentional sorting demonstration. The results show that 36-month-olds can do more than imitate the literal behaviors they see; they also abstract and imitate rules that they see another person use.

Source: Developmental Psychology

DOI: 10.1037/a0017473

Authors: Rebecca A. Williamson, Vikram K. Jaswal, Andrew N. Meltzoff

Institutions: Georgia State University, University of Virginia, University of Washington

Language: English

Topic: Child and Animal Learning Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: G1909506246, DEVELOPMENT OF IMITATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF PERSONS, G9000320294