Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The ability to engage in deferred imitation is by many scholars considered as one of several social-cognitive abilities that emerge during what has been coined the "9-month revolution". Meanwhile, evidence from several studies predominantly using a deferred imitation task with a hand-held puppet has shown that an emerging ability may be present already from 6 months of age. In the present study, this enigma was addressed by investigating the ability to engage in deferred imitation using five different objects, including the puppet, in 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-month-old infants (N = 200). The results showed that, at group level, infants in all age groups succeeded in deferred imitation tasks with different objects after a 24-h delay. As expected, older infants imitated more of the demonstrated actions compared to younger infants. These findings add to the understanding of the early development of deferred imitation in infancy and point to important developmental changes during the second part of the first year of life.
Source: Infancy
DOI: 10.1111/infa.70053
Authors: Sofie A. Beyer, Trine Sonne, Osman S. Kingo, Peter Krøjgaard
Institution: Aarhus University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Aarhus Universitet
OpenAlex ID: W4416158733