Imitation learning in infancy

我们一直在模仿别人，学习新技能，与周围的人建立社交和情感联系。但是这种模仿能力是从哪里来的呢？这是发展心理学中一个长期存在的问题，该项目旨在回答这个问题。该项目将采用独特的肌电图和行为观察相结合的方法，绘制婴儿从出生到一岁的模仿技能图表，并测试婴儿是否通过观察自己和被他人模仿来学习模仿。从这项研究中产生的新知识将澄清我们独特的人类社会的起源。研究结果还应该能够更早地识别发育问题，并为干预提供新的途径。

We copy others all the time, to learn new skills and to connect socially and emotionally with those around us. But where does this ability to imitate come from? This is a long-standing question in developmental psychology that the proposed project aims to answer. Using a unique combination of EMG and behavioural observations, this project will chart infants’ imitation skills from birth through the first year of life, and test whether infants learn to imitate from watching themselves and being imitated by others. The new knowledge arising from this research will clarify the origins of our uniquely human sociality. The outcomes should also enable earlier identification of developmental problems and provide novel avenues for intervention.