Action imitation: the early phase of infancy.

The early phase of imitation was studied in children between 6 and 18 months by means of the presentations of 22 actions. Comparison groups were used to assess spontaneous production of actions modeled for the treatment samples. Aanalyses yielded 4 clusters of actions, with 1 cluster showing age and treatment versus comparison group effects and others failing to show both these effects. An important factor affecting imitation was the presence of objects. Actions with objects were imitated more than actions without objects. Measures of attention were found to correlate with imitation level, wheras latency was inversely related to imitation. The presence of sound as a variable that potentially influences imitation was studied, but results were inconclusive. Moreover, imitation and object concept performance were unrelated when the factor of age was controlled.