Reducing the Mapping between Perception and Action Facilitates Imitation

Autor/inn/en	Perra, Oliver; Gattis, Merideth
Titel	Reducing the Mapping between Perception and Action Facilitates Imitation
Quelle	In: British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26 (2008) 1, S.133-144 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0261-510X
DOI	10.1348/026151007X224442
Schlagwörter	Imitation; Logical Thinking; Investigations; Task Analysis; Perception; Cognitive Processes; Comparative Analysis; Cognitive Mapping; Developmental Psychology; Children; Action Research; Nonverbal Communication + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Untersuchung; Aufgabenanalyse; Wahrnehmung; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Entwicklungspsychologie; Child; Kind; Kinder; Projektforschung; Non-verbal communication; Nonverbale Kommunikation
Abstract	This study investigated two hypotheses regarding the mapping of perception to action during imitation. The first hypothesis predicted that as children's cognitive capacities increase the tendency to map one goal and disregard others during imitation should decrease. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the performances of 168 4- to 7-year-olds in a gestural imitation task developed by Bekkering, Wohlschlager, and Gattis. The second hypothesis predicted that reducing the mapping between perception and action should reduce the demands on the cognitive resources of the child. This hypothesis was tested by creating a condition in which perception and action overlapped by sharing objects between experimenter and child. In three experimental conditions, an adult modelled four gestures, directed at either: 1) one of two sets of round stickers (proprietary objects); 2) the same location on the table, without any sticker (no objects); or 3) one set of round stickers, which were shared with the child (shared objects). The results confirmed both hypotheses. Four- and five-year-olds imitated less accurately when imitation involved mapping of both objects and movements (proprietary and shared objects) than when imitation involved mapping movements only (no objects). Seven-year-olds imitated accurately in all three conditions, demonstrating that increased cognitive capacity allowed them to map multiple goals from perception to action. Most importantly, reducing the mapping between perception and action in the shared objects condition facilitated imitation, specifically for the transitional group, 6-year-olds. We conclude that mapping between perception and action is not direct, but resembles mapping relations in analogical reasoning: cognitive processes mediate mapping from perception to action. (As Provided).
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Update	2017/4/10