Imitative skills between birth and six months

Fontaine, Roger

doi:10.1016/s0163-6383(84)80047-8

Cited by 103 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…It may not be fortuitous that previously, with the exception of Fontaine (1984), who studied infants between birth and 6 months, the positive results of imitation have been obtained from very young subjects of the varying ages of mean age 30 min (present study), 32 hr (Meltzoff& Moore, 1983a), 36 hr (Field, Woodson, Greenberg, & Cohen, 1982). 35 to 42 hr (Field, Woodson, Cohen, Greenberg, Garcia, & Collier, 1983), 4 days (Vinter, 1986) and mean age 14 days (Meltzotf& Moore, 1977), whereas the negative results have been obtained from relatively older subjects of 9 to 30 days (McKenzie & Over, 1983a), mean age 21 days (Koepke, Harem, & Legerstee, 1983), and mean age 48 days (Hayes & Watson,198 I).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Neonatal imitation in the first hour of life: Observations in rural Nepal.

Reissland

1988

Developmental Psychology

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Neonatal imitative responses were studied in 12 Maithil neonates (6 boys and 6 girls) during their first hour postpartum. No drugs were administered prior to or during labor, and the delivery was concluded without complications. The neonates observed two modeling conditions: lips widened and lips pursed. It was found that neonates moved their lips significantly more often in accordance with the model's lip position than at variance with the positions. These results suggest, when considered in the light of studies of Caucasian infants of North American and European parentage, that imitative capacity is present at birth.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Neonatal imitation in the first hour of life: Observations in rural Nepal.

Reissland

1988

Developmental Psychology

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“…The results showed that 2-to 3-week-old infants imitated the gestures in the subsequent response period. Other studies have also reported early imitation when the gesture is no longer visible (Fontaine, 1984;Heimann, Nelson, Schaller, 1989;Heimann & Schaller, 1985;Legerstee, 1991;Meltzoff & Moore, 1989, 1997. Young infants have also been shown to imitate across longer delays.…”

Section: Deferred Imitation In the Firstmentioning

confidence: 95%

Object representation, identity, and the paradox of early permanence: Steps toward a new framework

Meltzoff¹,

Moore²

1998

Infant Behavior and Development

137

104

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The sensorimotor theory of infancy has been overthrown, but there is little consensus on a replacement. We hypothesize that a capacity for representation is the starting point for infant development, not its culmination. Logical distinctions are drawn between object representation, identity, and permanence. Modern experiments on early object permanence and deferred imitation suggest: (a) even for young infants, representations persist over breaks in sensory contact, (b) numerical identity of objects (Os) is initially specified by spatiotemporal criteria (place and trajectory), (c) featural and functional identity criteria develop, (d) events are analyzed by comparing representations to current perception, and (e) representation operates both prospectively, anticipating future contacts with an O, and retrospectively, reidentifying an O as the "same one again." A model of the architecture and functioning of the early representational system is proposed. It accounts for young infants' behavior toward absent people and things in terms of their efforts to determine the identity of objects. Our proposal is developmental without denying innate structure and elevates the power of perception and representation while being cautious about attributing complex concepts to young infants. Keywordsrepresentation; object identity; object permanence; imitation; cognitive development; memory The field of infant psychology is in crisis. There is no longer a shared framework or set of assumptions about the nature of infancy. This crisis has been brewing for about 30 years. It began with the overthrow of the view that the infant is a purely sensorimotor organism. It continues today because there is no new consensus on how we should conceive of the infant mind.The classical sensorimotor view of infancy was founded on two key assumptions. The first was that there was a primacy to the role of action. In early infancy, to "know" an object was to act upon it. Development derived from relating actions to one another and to consequences in the perceptual world (sensorymotor connections). The second assumption was that a lack of sensory contact, in particular invisibility, was an insurmountable problem Copyright © 1998 Ablex Publishing Corporation Andrew N. Meltzoff, Department of Psychology, Box 357920, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. 7 Unlike Experiment 1, there were no problems of motor noise correlated with the one-vs. two-object movements, nor surface similarities between the habituation and test displays to serve as a basis for generalization (Spelke et al., 1995, p. 123 NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript for young infants. When sensory contact with objects was lost, objects ceased to exist for the infant. The eventual development of representation was postulated as the way children transcended stimulus-driven reactions and escaped the tyranny of the here-and-now world of infancy. Piaget provided a detailed theory of this kind (Piaget, 1952(Piaget, , 1954(Piaget, , 1962.The ...

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“…One common feature of several studies reporting null results for facial gesture imitation is that infants were prevented from gesturing concurrently with the adult model through the use of a pacifier [46,48]. Pacifiers were used to block infants' immediate facial mimicry to test delayed imitation [28], to rule out perceptual -motor resonance as an explanation for imitation [89,90], or to prevent the model from unintentionally imitating the infant [28,49]. In fact, concurrent interaction synchrony plays an important role in early parent -infant interactions [91], and infants who do not experience these synchronous interactions-such as when prevented with pacifiers-may be less likely to match facial gestures during still face (i.e.…”

Section: Why Some Laboratories Have Not Found Neonatal Imitation At Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mirror neuron system as revealed through neonatal imitation: presence from birth, predictive power and evidence of plasticity

Simpson

Murray

Paukner

et al. 2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

125

159

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There is strong evidence that neonates imitate previously unseen behaviours. These behaviours are predominantly used in social interactions, demonstrating neonates' ability and motivation to engage with others. Research on neonatal imitation can provide a wealth of information about the early mirror neuron system (MNS), namely its functional characteristics, its plasticity from birth and its relation to skills later in development. Although numerous studies document the existence of neonatal imitation in the laboratory, little is known about its natural occurrence during parent -infant interactions and its plasticity as a consequence of experience. We review these critical aspects of imitation, which we argue are necessary for understanding the early action-perception system. We address common criticisms and misunderstandings about neonatal imitation and discuss methodological differences among studies. Recent work reveals that individual differences in neonatal imitation positively correlate with later social, cognitive and motor development. We propose that such variation in neonatal imitation could reflect important individual differences of the MNS. Although postnatal experience is not necessary for imitation, we present evidence that neonatal imitation is influenced by experience in the first week of life.

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Imitative skills between birth and six months

Cited by 103 publications

References 9 publications

Neonatal imitation in the first hour of life: Observations in rural Nepal.

Neonatal imitation in the first hour of life: Observations in rural Nepal.

Object representation, identity, and the paradox of early permanence: Steps toward a new framework

The mirror neuron system as revealed through neonatal imitation: presence from birth, predictive power and evidence of plasticity

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