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Cited by 322Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentLanguage and cultural evolutionAction Observation and Synchronization

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 53 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

From over‐imitation to super‐copying: Adults imitate causally irrelevant aspects of tool use with higher fidelity than young children

McGuigan, Nicola, Makinson, Jenny, Whiten, Andrew·2011·British Journal of Psychology
DOI 10.1348/000712610x493115
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Abstract

Recent research has revealed a striking tendency in young children to imitate even causally irrelevant actions, a phenomenon dubbed ‘over‐imitation’. To investigate whether children develop beyond this, we allowed both adults and children to witness either a child or adult model performing goal‐relevant and goal‐irrelevant actions to extract a reward from a transparent puzzle box. Surprisingly, copying of irrelevant actions increased with age, with the adults performing the task with less efficiency than the children. Participants of all ages were more likely to perform the irrelevant actions performed by an adult model, than by a child model. These results suggest that people may become more imitative as they mature, whilst selectively copying particular models with a high level of fidelity. We suggest that this combination of faithful copying and selectivity underwrites the powerful social learning necessary for the level of cultural transmission on which our species depends.

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Dunn L., 1982, British Picture Vocabulary Scale
  2. Gergely G., 2006, Roots of human sociality: Culture, cognition, and human interaction, 229
  3. Hatfield E., 1994, Emotional contagion
  4. Nielsen M., Primatologie
  5. 10.1037/0022-3514.79.2.211 · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
McGuigan, N., Makinson, J., & Whiten, A.
Affiliations
  • Heriot-Watt University (GB)
  • University of St Andrews (GB)
Corresponding author
McGuigan, Nicola
ORCID
Venue
British Journal of Psychology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-01-17
Volume
102
Issue
1
Pages
1-18
ISSN
  • 0007-1269 (ISSN-L)
  • 2044-8295
DOI
10.1348/000712610x493115
OpenAlex
W1954390800
Cited by
322
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 63 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 23
FWCI
30.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • British Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
British Academy
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Keywords
overimitation, imitation, tool use, causal relevance, developmental differences, social learning, cultural transmission
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Analysis of Variance, Child Behavior, Child, Preschool, Female, Goals, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Male, Middle Aged, Problem Solving, Social Behavior, Task Performance and Analysis, Young Adult

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