Premium
Change in imitation for object manipulation between 10 and 12 months of age
Author(s) -
Fagard Jacqueline,
Lockman Jeffrey J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.20416
Subject(s) - imitation , observational learning , observational study , psychology , action (physics) , object (grammar) , set (abstract data type) , developmental psychology , dreyfus model of skill acquisition , cognitive psychology , cognitive imitation , artificial intelligence , social psychology , computer science , medicine , mathematics education , experiential learning , physics , pathology , quantum mechanics , economics , programming language , economic growth
Abstract By the end of the first year, infants show dramatic increases in manual skill. In this study we tested one factor likely to contribute to this change: an increase in the capacity for observational learning, which may enable infants to learn new behaviors and practice ones that they already possess. Thus, we evaluated change in imitation between 10 and 12 months of age. Twelve 10‐month‐olds and twelve 12‐month‐old infants were shown different kinds of manual actions on a variety of objects; infants also manipulated objects during a free play control condition. Results indicated that older infants benefited more than younger ones in the Demonstration condition and that at both ages, infants performed the target action more quickly after observing a demonstration. We hypothesize that observational learning can help manual skill development by enabling infants to learn new actions and select and practice ones already in their skill set. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 52: 90–99, 2010