Meltzoff and Moore evaluation

Question 1

Name a disadvantage of Meltzoff and Moore’s study

Answer 1

Individual differences
Isabella et al 1989 found that more strongly/securely attached infants showed greater interactional synchrony/ reciprocity
Heiman in 1989 found that infants who demonstrate a lot of imitation from birth onwards have a better quality relationship at three months
However it could be argued that this is due to early synchrony
This shows there are a lot individual differences but it does not indicate the cause of such differences

Question 2

Name a problem Meltzoff and Moore encountered with the study

Answer 2

infants mouths are in constant motion as well as the expressions that were tested frequently
This makes it difficult to distinguish between general activity and specific limited behaviour
we would have to raise the question, what is taking place from the infants perspective?
Is, for example the imitation of adults signals conscious or deliberate .
To overcome this, Meltzoff and Moore hired an independent observer who watched the filmed response of infants to judge their behaviour from the vide
This highlights the difficulty in testing infant behaviour but also suggests one way of increasing the internal validity of the data.

Question 3

Name an evaluation point in relation to imitation

Answer 3

There is support of intentionality
One way to test the intentionality of infants is to observe how they respond to inanimate objects
Abravanel and Deyong in 1991 observed infant behaviour when interaction with two objects, one stimulating tongue movement and the other mouth opening and closing
They found that infants of median aged 5 to 12 made little response to objects
This suggests imitation is a specific social response to humans.

Question 4

What did Jean Piaget in 1962 argue?

Answer 4

That true imitation only developed towards the end of the first year and anything before this was response training (repeating a behaviour that was rewarded)
Meltzoff and Moore argued that imitation was intentional
Murray and Trevarthen in 1985 had two month old infants interact with a monitor online with their caregiver in real time, however when the video monitor played a tape of the mother so that the image on the screen did not respond to the infant, the infants experienced acute distress, they tried to gain their mothers intention, gained no response and turned away
This shows that the infant is continuously trying to elicit a new reponse.

Question 5

Name one final disadvantage of Meltzoff and Moore’s study

Answer 5

Failure to replicate findings
Koepke in 1983 failed to replicate Meltzoff’s findings however, Meltzoff argued that the research by Koepke failed because it was less carefully controlled
Marien et al in 1996 replicated the Muarry and Trevarthen study and found infants could not distinguish between live videotaped interactions with their mothers which suggests infants aren’t responding to the adults
However, Marien argued/acknowledged that failure to replicate may lie in the procedure