Developmental changes in imitation during mother–infant interactions

ABSTRACT

We investigated the continuity and stability of imitative episodes (IMEs) to shed light on the nature of early infant imitative ability. We observed and analyzed interactions of 27 mother-infant pairs as they played in their homes at one and 10 months. We coded the initiator, frequency, duration, kind, structure, and affect of IMEs. At 10 months, dyads engaged in more frequent and longer IMEs that tended to be vocal, turn-takings, and positive in affect. Significant stability was observed. Mothers who initiated more IMEs and expressed more positive affect had infants who did the same. Findings suggest that dyads set stable communication patterns early on, even though all of these variables increased significantly over time. These patterns may be driven or be highly influenced by early individual differences in communicative ability. Findings also imply that building a history of positive exchanges may be critical in demonstrating stability in imitative episodes.

KEYWORDS:

• Imitation
• infancy
• mother–infant interaction
• longitudinal
• stability
• intersubjectivity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Coding was competed in December 2007. In the span of 2006 and 2010, the first author used the data to compare the imitation of twin and non-twin infants with their mothers and presented findings at conferences and published them in Greek psychological journals. In these previous examinations, the unit of analysis was the imitative episodes that occurred from 1 to 10 months. In the present study, the authors used the existing coded data to focus on the non-twin-mother pairs and reconfigured the variables to be able to examine the longitudinal change within the infant.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by a research grant entitled: ‘Twin and Non-Twin Infants in Their Interactions with Important Others: Cognitive, Emotional and Social Development’, Research Committee, University of Crete [grant number K.A. 1909, Date of Approval: 7 May 2004].

Notes on contributors

Maria Markodimitraki

Maria Markodimitraki is an Associate Professor of developmental psychology at the University of Crete, Department of Preschool Education. Her research interests are in the area of social and emotional development of infants and young children. More specifically, she is interested in dyadic and triadic playful interactions of infants and children with Important Others (parents, siblings, grandparents) and the emotional coordination between partners, imitation, language development, motherese and doggerel. She is also specialized in twins' development.

Maria Kalpidou

Maria Kalpidou is an Associate Professor of psychology at Assumption College, Worcester, MA. Her research focuses on aspects of socioemotional development of children. She is specifically interested in self-regulation, family interactions, imaginary companions, sensory processing, imitation, and the effects of postpartum depression on infant development. In addition, she has researched the relationship of social media and smartphone use with the well-being of young adults. She is currently writing a book about childhood happiness and success.