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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–5Cite as

Neonatal Imitation

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Synonyms

Behavioral matching; Copying; Mimicry; Newborn imitation; Selective imitation

Definition

The tendency for newborn infants to reproduce, imitate, or copy behaviors as they are modeled to them by an adult.

Introduction

Whether or not newborns have an ability to imitate has been the focus of considerable research effort over the past four decades. It has been considered a unique feature of the human mind and proposed to be the basis of later social-cognitive abilities (Lepage and Théoret 2007; Meltzoff and Williamson 2010; Trevarthen and Aitken 2001). There has, however, been mixed empirical evidence for its existence, placing neonatal imitation at the center of great debate with varied mechanisms and functions being proposed in an effort to explain the inconsistent findings. The most recent and comprehensive research on the topic suggests that there is no longer compelling evidence for neonatal imitation (Oostenbroek et al. 2016).

History of Neonatal Imitation Research

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Siobhan Kennedy-Costantini, Virginia Slaughter & Mark Nielsen

  2. University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Mark Nielsen

Authors
  1. Siobhan Kennedy-Costantini
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  2. Virginia Slaughter
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  3. Mark Nielsen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siobhan Kennedy-Costantini .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of South Carolina - Beaufort, Bluffton, SC, USA

    Carey Fitzgerald

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Kennedy-Costantini, S., Slaughter, V., Nielsen, M. (2016). Neonatal Imitation. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2382-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2382-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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