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Foundations of Social Cognition (Neonatal Imitation (Meltzoff & Moore,…
Foundations of Social Cognition
Neonatal Imitation
Understanding that other people think & they can
process emotions
Definition:
An observer observes a model complete an act & produces a recognisable copy of this act
Meltzoff & Moore
Classic tongue protrusion experiment
Imitation based on "Active intermodal mapping" --> Linking self & other
Copying is extremely important for learning & social cognition
Test 1 minute old babies --> test imitations
Test 42 minute old babies
imitated tongue protrusion
Infants link self & other - stored copy of image - compare own actions & map to produce same action
Debate
By imitating others, babies begin to understand that they
share cognitive states & are 'like me'
=
The 'Like Me' hypothesis (Meltzoff)
The 'other' also has social & behavioural states
When the adult stopped sticking out tongue, baby kept going -
liked the social interaction
Anisfeld:
Just reflexes or automatic? = Innate
releasing interaction
Nagy & Molnar
Agree with Meltzoff --> newborn imitation is
communicative
- sharing states
Only relevant to the
face
Low level survival behaviour by connecting to the other person for protection
Kaye
Giving too much agency to the baby
We as adults are
good at reading each others' intentions
--> we put our own abilities onto the infant - E.g. we think our pets can understand us - can they?
Oostenbroek
Argue against neonatal imitations being a foundation of social cognition
Infants shown 11 gestures at 1, 3, 6 & 9 weeks old - coded their gestures
No evidence for the true imitation effect
--> poor methods from previous studies - not enough control conditions & publication bias
True imitation not until
later in infancy
NI in Rhesus Monkeys
Ferrari:
How do you define/encode imitation?
Found evidence for imitation in macaques = NOT unique to humans
Joint Attention
Sharing of attention between
child & adult
D'Entremont
Start to follow gaze direction at 6 months old
Brooks & Meltzoff
12 month olds only follow if
eyes are open
Moll & Tomasello
12 month olds will try to see what experimenter is looking at
Multiple objects --> infants will stop & look at the first thing they see not the specific object - the location --> don't understand that seeing equates to knowing
Barrier:
Infants on other side will try to see what experimenter is looking at - after 12 months old
Pro-Social Behaviour
Early Understanding of PSB
Hamlin:
6 m/os understand who is helpful & who is not
Shown video of a helpful triangle --> chose triangle
Shown video of an unhelpful square --> Didn't choose
When does PSB appear?
Warneken & Tomasello:
Helping & cooperation at 14 m/o - several tasks where children can help & cooperate
Without prompting - infant showed helping (14m/o) - dropped object
At 2 y/o - showed sharing behaviour but only if adult states their desire
Why are young children pro-social?
Rewarded by parents or an intrinsic reward
Warneken & Tomasello:
When reward received less likely to help at 20 m/o
It is
intrinsically motivated
- genuine concern for others
Vaish:
18 m/o more prosocial if they believed adult was
harmed
Other Types of Imitation
Deferred Imitation
Definition:
Imitation after delay
Meltzoff:
9 months old imitate after 24 hours
Watch experimenter press toy & it makes a noise --> 24 hours later - saw button press --> imitated
Meltzoff:
Light box - 14 month olds imitate after 2 & 4 months - 6 month olds defer imitation --> store & reproduce info from months ago --> observed experimenter turn light on with head - copied this action
Over-Imitation - Horner & Whiten
Definition:
Copy actions that weren't necessary for the end goal
Copied
relevant & irrelevant
actions to get into a puzzle box = inefficient
Don't know any other way of getting into box -->
imitation of adult
Inferred Intentions - Carpenter
Definition:
Assume adult has intention behind actions
Over imitation shows that social imitation is the preferred way
They don't copy everything = selective
Condition 1: Saw toy mouse hop across mat & put into house with
noises & jumping
Condition 2: Saw mouse with jumping & noises but
no house
Cond. 2 copied bouncing & noise, 1 put mouse
straight into house - no noises/jumping
--> End goal reached quicker --> don't copy everything - developing a more
sophisticated understanding
Pointing
Proto-Imperative:
Pointing for a request (e.g. food) = learnt
Proto-Declarative:
To show something (e.g. the sky) = at 12 month old
Carpenter
Pointing begins at around 11/12 months old
Liszkowski
12 months old point to
provide info
Franco & Butterworth
12-18 month olds check adult is looking
Rich vs. Lean
Perner:
Gaze following is
learnt
& pointing is
reinforced
Rich
Tomasello & Haberi:
12 m/os know what is new for others - Experimenter leaves & introduces new toy, experimenter 2 ask ' can you give it to me' infants give new object - exp. must want what they haven't seen yet
Lean
Not give infant much credit --> pointing simply
learnt & reinforced
by parents
Moore & D'Entremont:
Pointing to draw attention to self & get a reaction from their parents - only point when
parent was looking at them
Liszkowski
Tested alternative theories of pointing
4 Hypothesis:
Infants point for
themselves
Infants want
adult attention
Infants want to
direct adults attention to the object
Infants want to
share attention & interest in object
Puppet appears & exp. ignores it, waits for infant's point & acts in line with one of the hypotheses
Results:
* Most pointing during joint attention (4)
They like to share attention with object
Infants still try to get adult to look if adult directed attention to them
Pointed less in other conditions
12 m/os point --> want to share interest with others because they like it =
Rich POV