Human infant imitation as a social survival circuit

Human infants rapidly and effortlessly learn from other people. Imitation provides a direct avenue for transmitting information across generations, before language. Infants learn about people, objects, and themselves through imitation. A large body of behavioral experiments has provided insights about the development, functions, and psychological mechanisms underlying human infant imitation. Infants not only imitate other people, but also recognize when they are being imitated. Reciprocal imitation between infants and caregivers promotes interpersonal affiliation and bonding. New cognitive neuroscience research complements the behavioral work by providing evidence about infant cortical body maps. These body maps help explain how infants match the behaviors they see with their own corresponding bodily acts. Imitation is a distinctive channel for early human learning. It links human infants to their caregivers who are conduits of cultural information. Infant imitation serves as a social survival circuit with evolutionary roots and socio-cultural consequences.

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