Fun or Function:What motivates preschoolers to overimitate in playful vs. instrumental task settings?

幼儿通过观察和模仿他人获得许多文化技能。他们甚至复制显然与实现给定目标无关的行为，这种现象被称为过度模仿(OI)。文献中提出了指导儿童模仿行为的不同动机：如果儿童模仿行为以完成给定的任务，他们的行为是基于工具性动机。如果他们试图加入这种模式或遵循社会规范/惯例，他们这样做是基于社会动机。最近，Schleihauf(2018)提出了第三种可能性：如果儿童模仿是因为他们喜欢所展示的动作，他们的动作可能是基于娱乐动机。然而，关于娱乐动机的影响的研究仍然缺乏。本项目将按照相同的一般范式进行三项相关研究，以填补这一空白：5岁儿童将被要求从一个有透明盖子的盒子里取出一枚硬币。一个模型演示了一系列低效动作(例如敲打盖子、拉动旋钮)，然后展示了有效的动作(例如打开盖子并伸手到盒子里去拿硬币)。然后，轮到孩子随心所欲地得到一枚硬币。一项没有演示的基线研究(研究1；N=32)评估了儿童自发地展示每个目标动作的频率。它的作用是在进一步研究中识别过度模仿。研究2(N=128)通过启动活动和示范方式操纵儿童的动机。首先，实验者让孩子参与娱乐性或工具性的活动(想象力游戏与分类事物)。在接下来的模仿任务中，关键动作要么以娱乐模式(即保护海盗宝藏)演示，要么以工具性模式(即解决任务)演示。研究3(N=128)改变了模型的年龄(同龄人或成年人)，并使用新开发的问卷来探索儿童性格游戏性的作用。我们期望在模仿测试中引导儿童行为的动机受到所提供的情景框架的影响。娱乐性的主要活动和演示模式比工具性的主要活动和呈现方式更有可能支持过度模仿。此外，我们预计儿童模特在娱乐性语境中更有可能增加过度模仿，而成人模特更有可能在工具性语境中减少过度模仿。最后，我们将探讨在不同条件下，性格娱乐性对预测过度模仿的作用。本项目将有助于阐明娱乐动机在解释学龄前儿童过度模仿方面的作用，并具体说明在儿童中触发这种动机的与人有关和与情景有关的条件。

Young children acquire many cultural skills via observing and imitating others. They copy even actions that are clearly not relevant to attain a given goal, a phenomenon called overimitation (OI). Different motivations guiding children imitation behavior have been suggested in the literature: If children imitate actions to accomplish a given task they act based on an instrumental motivation. If they try to affiliate with the model or follow social norms/conventions, they do so based on a social motivation. Recently, Schleihauf (2018) suggested a third possibility: If children imitate because they enjoy the demonstrated actions, they actions may be based on an entertainment motivation. Studies on the impact of the entertainment motivation are still missing, however. The present project will fill this gap by conducting three related studies following the same general paradigm: 5-year-olds will be asked to retrieve a coin from a box with a transparent lid. A model demonstrates a range of inefficient actions (e.g. knocking on the lid, pulling on a knob) before showing the efficient actions (i.e. lifting the lid and reaching inside the box to grab the coin). Then it is the child’s turn to get a coin however she likes. A baseline study without demonstration (Study 1; N = 32) assesses how often children show each target action spontaneously. It serves to identify over-imitation in further studies. Study 2 (N = 128) manipulates children’s motivation via priming activities and the mode of demonstration. First, the experimenter engages the child in either an entertaining or an instrumental activity (imaginative play vs. sorting things). In the following imitation task the critical actions are demonstrated either in an entertaining mode (i.e. to safe a pirate treasure), or in an instrumental mode (i.e. to solve a task). Study 3 (N = 128) varies the age of the model (peer or adult) and explores the role of children’s dispositional playfulness using a newly developed questionnaire. We expect that the motivation guiding children’s behavior during the imitation-test are affected by the situational framing provided. An entertaining primary activity and mode of demonstration are more likely to support over-imitation than an instrumental primary activity and mode of presentation. Furthermore, we expect that a child-model is more likely to increase over-imitation in an entertaining context whereas an adult-model is more likely to reduce over-imitation in an instrumental context. Finally, the role of dispositional playfulness for predicting over-imitation in different conditions will be explored. The present project shall help to shed first light on the role of the entertainment motivation for explaining over-imitation in preschoolers and to specify person-related and situation-related conditions triggering this kind of motivation in children.