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The most basic unit of imitation is the ability to translate observed movements into our own movements and reproduce them as our own actions. Goal-directed theories assert that imitation is affected by goals extracted from the observed movements, whereas generalist hypothesis asserts that imitation is affected by the salience of the components rather than the goals. This study developed a new imitation task in order to clarify the role of goals in imitating movement to examine the relative applicability of these two theories to children’s imitation. Young children (N = 55; mean age = 5:1 years, age range = 4 yr. 1 mo. - 6 yr. 0 mo.) were asked to imitate the movements of an experimenter with a toy train. While the children observed the experimenter moving the toy train, they also heard a commentary describing the train’s departure and the trip until the train arrives at the station. The commentary emphasized that the train’s movements had a start and a goal. We analyzed the children’s imitation errors, including whether the color salience of the goal influenced the accuracy of their imitation. The results supported the generalist hypothesis, because the part that was relatively accentuated was more accurately imitated. |
