Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/42963

KEYWORDS : imitation;perception;children

This study investigates how children, younger than one and up to age three, in the first stage of development act when they are being imitated by an adult. When a child perceives that it is being imitated by an adult, it indicates that the child is making a clear distinction between itself and another person. The child objectively compares his behavior with the adult's behavior, and the child needs to be able to perceive the adult's intention. Perception of being imitated is a very important concept because it demonstrates the capacity of the child to recognize another person's intentions. We constructed a controlled situation where a child is playing with toys that he/she chose, while an adult imitates the child using another set of identical toys. As a result, children from one and half years of age, when they are being imitated by an adult, react as if they perceive that they are being imitated. Children indicate their perception by "deliberately changing their toys' direction of movement while watching the adult move his toy" or "exhibiting strange behaviors" or by "correcting the adult's behavior". Children's reactions to being imitated by adults gradually become more complicated and diverse.