Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2010
Abstract
Two experiments investigate the scope of imitation by testing whether 36-month-olds can learn to produce a categorization strategy through observation. After witnessing an adult sort a set of objects by a visible property (their color, Experiment 1) or a non-visible property (the particular sounds produced when the objects were shaken, Experiment 2), children showed significantly more sorting by those dimensions relative to children in control groups, including a control in which children saw the sorted endstate but not the intentional sorting demonstration. The results show that 36-month-olds can do more than imitate the literal behaviors they see; they also abstract and imitate rules that they see another person use.
Recommended Citation
Williamson, Rebecca; Jaswal, Vikram K.; and Meltzoff, Andrew N., "Learning the Rules: Observation and Imitation of a Sorting Strategy by 36-Month-Old Children" (2010). Psychology Faculty Publications. 110.
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_facpub/110
Comments
This is an Author Accepted Manuscript of:
Williamson, R. A., Jaswal, V. K., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2010). Learning the rules: Observation and imitation of a sorting strategy by 36-month-old children. Developmental Psychology, 46(1), 57-65. doi:10.1037/a0017473
Copyright APA. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.