Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 153, Issue -, Pages 1-14Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.08.004
Keywords
Conventions; Flexible imitation; Instrumental skills; Parent-child interaction; Scaffolding; Socialization
Funding
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Grant
- ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) Large Grant [REF RES-060-25-0085]
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Children use imitation flexibly to acquire the instrumental skills and conventions of their social groups. This study (N = 69 parent and 3- to 6-year-old child dyads) examined the impact of instrumental versus conventional language on (a) children's imitative flexibility in the context of parent-child interaction and (b) how parents scaffold children's imitation. Children in dyads presented with conventional language imitated with higher fidelity than children in dyads presented with instrumental language. Parents in dyads presented with conventional language also provided their children with more instruction to imitate and engaged in more encouragement, demonstration, and monitoring than parents in dyads presented with instrumental language. The relation between language cue and children's imitative fidelity was mediated by parent scaffolding behavior. The results provide evidence that caregivers support the development of flexible imitation during early childhood by adjusting their scaffolding according to the goal of the behavior. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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