An unsettled debate: Key empirical and theoretical questions are still open (original) (raw)

Neonatal Imitation: Theory, Experimental Design, and Significance for the Field of Social Cognition

Frontiers in psychology, 2017

Neonatal imitation has rich implications for neuroscience, developmental psychology, and social cognition, but there is little consensus about this phenomenon. The primary empirical question, whether or not neonatal imitation exists, is not settled. Is it possible to give a balanced evaluation of the theories and methodologies at stake so as to facilitate real progress with respect to the primary empirical question? In this paper, we address this question. We present the operational definition of differential imitation and discuss why it is important to keep it in mind. The operational definition indicates that neonatal imitation may not look like prototypical imitation and sets non-obvious requirements on what can count as evidence for imitation. We also examine the principal explanations for the extant findings and argue that two theories, the arousal hypothesis and the Association by Similarity Theory, which interprets neonatal imitation as differential induction of spontaneous b...

Positive evidence for neonatal imitation: A general response, adaptive engagement

Developmental Science

Early infant imitation has been questioned since the first published reports on this phenomenon (Meltzoff & Moore, 1977), and the debate further continued recently when Oostenbroek et al. (2016) tested infants at 1, 3, 6 and 9 weeks of age on their imitation of 11 gestures and found no evidence of imitation. When Meltzoff et al. (2018) re-analysed the sample, however, they found evidence of the imitation of tongue protrusion and pointed out that, although the other gestures in the design were meaningful longitudinally, they were unsuitable for testing neonatal infants' imitative abilities. Besides methodological differences (Meltzoff et al., 2018), the exact age and developmental stage of infants has often been overlooked in these debates. Looking at studies that have found no evidence of neonatal imitation, the majority tested 'neonates' who were beyond the early neonatal or perinatal period of life (WHO Geneva) that is, after the first week of life (Anisfeld, 1996; Anisfeld

Animal studies help clarify misunderstandings about neonatal imitation

Empirical studies are incompatible with the proposal that neonatal imitation is arousal-driven or declining with age. Nonhuman primate (NHP) studies reveal a functioning brain mirror system from birth, developmental continuity in imitation and later sociability, and the malleability of neonatal imitation, shaped by the early environment. A narrow focus on arousal effects and reflexes may grossly underestimate neonatal capacities.

Why the confusion around neonatal imitation? A review

Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 2013

Considerable research efforts have been expended investigating imitation in newborns over the past 35 years. This is because neonatal imitation is extremely controversial, with debates focusing on whether the phenomenon even exists, what the mechanism is that drives it, and the function that it serves. Three prominent theories that the field currently offers are: (1) neonatal imitation is a genuine act of social communication mediated through an abstract representational system; (2) the phenomenon is actually an involuntary, inborn reflex limited to tongue protrusion; and (3) imitation in newborns is a product of arousal. These views continue to be maintained without much promise of resolution, and it is the aim of this review to investigate why. Here, we review the history of neonatal imitation research and these debates. We will critically examine the empirical basis for neonatal imitation, including studies from the past decade that have not been reviewed to date. We consider what may contribute to the confusion of the interpretation of neonatal imitation, such as newborn state regulation, testing context, coding and scoring. We conclude with comments pointing to new ways of studying and interpreting the controversial phenomenon of neonatal imitation that have not yet been proposed.

Comprehensive Longitudinal Study Challenges the Existence of Neonatal Imitation in Humans

Current biology : CB, 2016

Human children copy others' actions with high fidelity, supporting early cultural learning and assisting in the development and maintenance of behavioral traditions [1]. Imitation has long been assumed to occur from birth [2-4], with influential theories (e.g., [5-7]) placing an innate imitation module at the foundation of social cognition (potentially underpinned by a mirror neuron system [8, 9]). Yet, the very phenomenon of neonatal imitation has remained controversial. Empirical support is mixed and interpretations are varied [10-16], potentially because previous investigations have relied heavily on cross-sectional designs with relatively small samples and with limited controls [17, 18]. Here, we report surprising results from the most comprehensive longitudinal study of neonatal imitation to date. We presented infants (n = 106) with nine social and two non-social models and scored their responses at 1, 3, 6, and 9 weeks of age. Longitudinal analyses indicated that the infan...

Enactivism and neonatal imitation: conceptual and empirical considerations and clarifications

Frontiers in Psychology, 2014

Recently within social cognition it has been argued that understanding others is primarily characterized by dynamic and second person interactive processes, rather than by taking a third person observational stance. Within this enactivist view of intersubjective understanding, researchers differ in their claims regarding the innateness of such processes. Here we proposed to distinguish nativist enactivists-who argue that studies on neonatal imitation support the view that infants already have a non-mentalistic embodied form of intersubjective understanding present at birth-from empiricist enactivists, who claim that those intersubjective processes are learned through social interaction. In this article, we critically examine the empirical studies on neonate imitation and conclude that the available evidence is at least mixed for most types of specific gesture imitations. In the end, only the tongue protrusion imitation appears to be consistent across different studies. If neonates imitate only one single gesture, then a more parsimonious explanation for the tongue protrusion effect could be put forward. Consequently, the nativist enactivist claim that understanding others depends on second person interactive processes already present at birth seems no longer plausible. Although other strands of evidence provide converging evidence for the importance of intersubjective processes in adult social cognition, the available evidence on neonatal imitation calls for a more careful view on the innateness of such processes and suggests that this way of interacting needs to be learned over time. Therefore the available empirical evidence on neonate imitation is in our view compatible with the empiricist enactivist position, but not with the nativist enactivist position. Citation: Lodder P, Rotteveel M and van Elk M (2014) Enactivism and neonatal imitation: conceptual and empirical considerations and clarifications. Front. Psychol. 5:967.

Brief Familiarization Primes Covert Imitation in 9-month-old Infants

Previous research reveals that 9-month-old infants who passively observe an experimenter search repeatedly for a toy in the Piagetian A-not-B error task covertly imitate these actions and manually search incorrectly when the toy is hidden in the B-location. Two experiments tested whether infants would also search incorrectly if the experimenter was replaced by a pair of mechanical claws or if the experimenter performed less familiar actions. Although infants did not commit the search error when tested directly without any familiarization to the novel actions, a significant majority of infants committed the search error following two minutes of familiarization with the actions performed on the A trials. These results converge to suggest that infants' brief experiences with observing actions will facilitate the activation of a corresponding motor representation. Furthermore, the specific process by which this facilitation occurs varies with the similarity between the observed acti...

Selective imitation in 6-month-olds: The role of the social and physical context

Infant Behavior and Development, 2012

Six-month-old infants' learning of a new action from two different models (mother/stranger) was assessed in two settings (home/laboratory). In the laboratory, a significant number of infants learned the action from a stranger but not from their mother. In the infants' homes, this pattern was reversed.

Imitation over a series of trials without feedback: Age six months

Infant Behavior and Development, 1978

The 6-month-old infant is capable of imitation superior to previous reports, when he or she controls the timing of the model presented. By meeting the experimenter's gaze, 34 infants elicited a rhythmic burst of five mouth movements, opening and closing. After many trials a majority of the infants themselves produced a burst of two or more such movements. Although no universal sequence of acts emerged from the data, a sequence of accommodation was observed: (1) an orienting to the experimenter; (2) a series of imitations of single features of the model, beginning with mouth movements; (3) a string of two or more features of the model; and finally (4) integrating the features into bursts of mouth opening and closing. The findings are regarded as consistent with Piaget's general view of sensory-motor development. However, these subjects over a series of trials gradually imitated movements they could not see themselves make. The sequence of accommodation resembled the sequence of stages usually found in the development of imitation, when imitation is defined as an immediate response to one or two presentations of a model.

Sauciuc et al. Imitation recognition 6-month old infants

2019

The experience of being imitated is theorised to be a driving force of infant social cognition, yet evidence on the emergence of imitation recognition and the effects of imitation in early infancy is disproportionately scarce. To address this lack of empirical evidence, in a within-subjects study we compared the responses of 6-month old infants when exposed to ipsilateral imitation as opposed to non-imitative contingent responding. To examine mediating mechanisms of imitation recognition, infants were also exposed to contralateral imitation and bodily imitation with suppressed emotional mimicry. We found that testing behaviours - the hallmark of high-level imitation recognition - occurred at significantly higher rates in each of the imitation conditions compared to the contingent responding condition. Moreover, when being imitated, infants showed higher levels of attention, smiling and approach behaviours compared to the contingent responding condition. The suppression of emotional ...