| Literature DB >> 31293474 |
Katalin Oláh1,2, Ildikó Király1,3.
Abstract
This study investigated whether toddlers would selectively imitate a demonstrator who exhibits familiarity with cultural practices in their tool-using habits over a demonstrator who consistently uses tools in an unconventional way. Three-year-old children (n = 45) watched videos depicting two models, one of whom performed tool-using actions in a conventional way, while the other model deviated from social conventions. Then, both models introduced a technique to build a tower (differing in one element). Moreover, the context of the demonstration was also manipulated: in one condition, the models expressed their teaching intentions, while in the other they performed the actions without communicative signals. Children were more willing to copy the actions of the conventionally behaving model, irrespective of the context of the demonstration.Entities:
Keywords: conventionality; imitation; norms; social categorization; social learning
Year: 2019 PMID: 31293474 PMCID: PMC6606772 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01399
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Psychol ISSN: 1664-1078
Figure 1Two possible ways to build the tower (using two single blocks or one double block to build the middle section) performed by the two protagonists.
Figure 2Number of children imitating the variants introduced by the two models or opting for an alternative solution in the ostensive and the non-ostensive conditions.
Figure 3Number of children imitating the variants introduced by the two models in the ostensive and the non-ostensive conditions (excluding alternative solutions).