KEY STUDY: Meltzoff & Moore Flashcards
What was the type of study carried out?
Controlled lab observation
What was the aim of the study?
To investigate infant - caregiver interactions, specifically interactional synchrony.
What was the procedure of the study?
Adult model presented 1 of 3 facial expressions (tongue protrusion, smiling, mouth opening) & further presented stimuli of hand opening.
A dummy was placed in infants mouth to prevent imitation, however was removed and stimuli was presented again.
Infants behaviour was monitored.
How were the infants behaviours judged?
Video tapes of the procedure were made & independent observers who had not seen the stimuli/ behaviours presented to infants judges their behaviours on the basis of specific categories.
What were the findings from this study?
Found that infants of 2-3 weeks old imitated the facial and hand expressions of the model.
What did Meltzoff and Moore find in a later study?
Found same imitation in infants 2-3 DAYS old.
Concluded that imitation must be innate as infants only 2-3 days old are too young to have learned this behaviour.
How does the study by Koepke et al (1983) challenge the findings of Meltzoff and Moore?
Failed to replicate findings as their study was not as carefully controlled as Meltzoff and Moore’s.
What evidence is there to suggest that infants make a specific response to other humans?
Study by Abravanal and DeYong(1991) used inanimate objects which infants showed no relation/ imitation to in order to prove that infants make a specific response to other humans.
What are the problems in assessing/ observing infant behaviour?
Infants are constantly moving and expressions that are tested occur frequently.
Hard to distinguish between general behaviour and specific imitations.
