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The Effect of Repetition on Infants' Imitation From Picture Books Varying in Iconicity
Author(s) -
Simcock Gabrielle,
DeLoache Judy S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1080/15250000802459102
Subject(s) - imitation , iconicity , psychology , repetition (rhetorical device) , reading (process) , flexibility (engineering) , picture books , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , cognition , linguistics , action (physics) , social psychology , art , visual arts , statistics , philosophy , mathematics , neuroscience , physics , quantum mechanics
Although picture‐book reading is commonplace during infancy, little is known about the impact of this activity on learning. A previous study showed that 18‐ and 24‐month‐olds imitated a novel action sequence presented in a book that was illustrated with realistic color photos, whereas they failed to imitate from books illustrated with less realistic drawings. In the research reported here, we hypothesized that increasing infants' exposure to a picture book would increase learning from books illustrated with both color photos and drawings. Independent groups of 18‐and 24‐month‐olds were exposed to a picture book either twice in succession or 4 times in succession. The results showed that, regardless of the iconicity of the illustrations, increasing the number of reading sessions significantly improved the infants' imitation scores, compared to age‐matched, no‐demonstration controls. The results are discussed in relation to representational insight and cognitive flexibility.