Meltzoff and Moore Flashcards
What award did Meltzoff win
• In 2005, won an award for outstanding research from the society for developmental and behavioural paediatrics and the Kenneth Craik award in psychology, Cambridge
What did Piaget suggest about the capacity for imitation
it develops gradually as infancy progresses
What did Piaget think about imitation before 8 months?
infants may seem to imitate but it is an illusion
WHat did Piaget think about imitation between 8-10 months?
the first ‘true’ imitation emerges, infants are able to imitate novel gestures
What did Piaget think about imitation at 18+ months
(the end of the Sensori-motor period of development): The capacity for representation appears. Deferred imitation is now possible.
How many participants took part in the first experiment
• 3 female and 3 male infants between 12 and 21-days from birth
How long were gestures shown for in the study
15 seconds
How long was the response period in the first experiment
20 seconds
WHat were the four gestures in the first experiment
– Lip protrusion,
mouth opening,
tongue protrusion, and
sequential finger movement
Which gesture was most imitated
tonge protrusion
Who were participants in the second experimetn
• 6 male and 6 female infants ranging in age from 16-21 days
What were the results of the second experiment
tongue protrusion imitated most and mouth openings after. both mroe than baseline
Why is imitation of facial gestures unlikely to be due to reinforcement?
- Neutral face of experimenter
2. Most parents don’t seem to notice
Why is imitation of facial features unlikely to be due to innate releasing mechanism?
- The number of gestures to be imitated (i.e. four)
- This interpretation ruled out by later findings in 1994: Tongue protrusion to the side
- They adapt to novel situations
What is innate releasing mechanism
seeing the adult’s gesture(s) produces an automatic, reflex-like response.
What is imitation based on
the infant’s capacity to represent visually and proprioceptively perceived information
What does supramodal mean
That transcends sensory modalities, such as vision and hearing. Usually refers to an area of the brain that implements abstract functionality common to more than one source of sensory data.
What is imitation accomplished through
an active matching process and mediated by an abstract representational system
what is AIM
active intermodal matching
Why may children imitate facial features
social identification,
mimicry
How are Piaget and Meltzoff and Moore different
Piaget (and many later researchers) found no convincing evidence for imitation until around 8 months, but Meltzoff & Moore suggest that infants are born with the ability to imitate facial and other gestures from birth
What did Meltzoff adn Moore find in their follow up study
Infants tended to produce the gesture they had seen the day before!
• This is clear evidence of deferred (delayed) imitation
What did Oostenbroeck suggest
you only get the result in tongue opening. Would not find this with happy faces.
What did Meltzoff’s follow up study show
The infants imitated the intended act (e.g., pulling the dumbbell apart) and not the experimenter’s actual failed act.
What did Meltzoff’s follow up study suggest
perhaps a beginning of ToM
What did Gergely et al find
In the “hands occupied” condition the infants tended to switch on the light box with their hands; in the “hands free” condition they tended to switch it on with their heads
What did Buttelmann et al find
In the “hands occupied” condition the chimps used their hands; in the “hands free” condition they used their heads
How has Meltzoff’s work influenced us
Cognitive science,
early education and parenting,
brain science
What are mirror neurons
a pre-motor neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when an animal observes the same action performed by another (conspecific) animal
What might mirror neurons help our understanding of
ToM, empathy and many forms of social behaviour
