Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations

Imitation
Imitation is broadly understood to
be a powerful way to learn. It has been
identified as crucial in the acquisition
of cultural knowledge (Rogoff 1990)
and language. Imitation by newborns
has been demonstrated for adult facial
expressions (Meltzoff and Moore 1983),
head movements, and tongue protrusions
(Meltzoff and Moore 1989). “The
findings of imitation in human newborns
highlighted predispositions to
imitate facial and manual actions,
vocalizations and emotionally laden
facial expressions” (Bard and Russell
1999, 93). Infant imitation involves
perception and motor processes (Meltzoff
and Moore 1999). The very early
capacity to imitate makes possible
imitation games in which the adult
mirrors the child’s behavior, such as
sticking out one’s tongue or matching
the pitch of a sound the infant makes,
and then the infant imitates back.
This type of interaction builds over
time as the infant and the adult add
elements and variations in their imitation
games.
Infants engage in both immediate
imitation and delayed imitation. Immediate
imitation occurs when infants
observe and immediately attempt to
copy or mimic behavior. For example,
immediate imitation can be seen
when an infant’s parent sticks out his
tongue and the infant sticks out his
tongue in response. As infants develop,
they are able to engage in delayed imitation,
repeating the behavior of others
at a later time after having observed
it. An example of delayed imitation is
a child reenacting part of a parent’s
exercise routine, such as lifting a block
several times as if it were a weight.
Butterworth (1999, 63) sums up the
importance of early imitation in the
following manner: “Modern research
has shown imitation to be a natural
mechanism of learning and communication
which deserves to be at centre
stage in developmental psychology.”
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Memory
The capacity to remember allows
infants and toddlers to differentiate
between familiar and unfamiliar people
and objects, anticipate and participate
in parts of personal care routines,
learn language, and come to know the
rules of social interaction. The infant’s
memory system is quite remarkable
and functions at a higher level than
was previously believed (Howe and
Courage 1993). Although age is not the
only determinant of memory functioning,
as infants get older they are able
to retain information for longer periods
of time (Bauer 2004). Infants exhibit
long-term recall well before they are
able to articulate their past experiences
verbally (Bauer 2002b).
The emergence of memory is related
to the development of a neural network
with various components (Bauer
2002b). Commenting on the different
forms and functions of early
memory development, Bauer (2002a,
131) states: “It is widely believed that
memory is not a unitary trait but
is comprised of different systems or
processes, which serve distinct functions,
and are characterized by fundamentally
different rules of operation.”
Bauer (2002a, 145) later adds that
recent research counters earlier suggestions
that preschool-aged children
demonstrate little memory capacity
and to speculations that younger
children and infants demonstrate little
or no memory capacity. Bauer (2002a,
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT