Imitation of facial and manual gestures

Imitation of Facial and Manual Gestures by Human Neonates Abstract. Infants between 12 and 21 days of age can imitate both facial and manu- al gestures; this behavior cannot be explained in terms of either conditioning or innate releasing . Human infants are capable of accurately matching facial gestures of an experimenter within a few hours after birth, a phenomenon called neonatal imitation. Recent studies have suggested that rather than being a simple reflexive-like behavior, infants exert active control over imitative responses and ‘provoke ’ previously imitated gestures even after a delay of up to 24 h. Infants between 12 and 21 days of age can imitate both facial and manual gestures; this behavior cannot be explained in terms of either conditioning or innate releasing mechanisms. Such imitation implies that human neonates can equate their own unseen behaviors with gestures they see others perform.

ment. Facial imitation was regarded as a par-ticularly important developmental milestone because, unlike manual and vocal imitation, the infant's response cannot be perceived with-in the same sensory modality as the model's. The stimulus and response cannot be "directly compared." In facial imitation, infants must match a gesture they see with a gesture of. Infants between 12 and 21 days of age can imitate both facial and manual gestures; this behavior cannot be explained in terms of either conditioning or innate releasing mechanisms. Such imitation implies that human neonates can equate their own unseen behaviors with gestures they see others perform. Human infants are capable of accurately matching facial gestures of an experimenter within a few hours after birth, a phenomenon called neonatal imitation. Recent studies have suggested that rather than being a simple reflexive-like behavior, infants exert active control over imitative responses and ‘provoke ’ previously imitated gestures even after a delay of up to 24 h.

(head movement), as well as a tongue-protrusion gesture. Meltzoff and Moore's () report of neonatal imitation Imitation of facial and manual. 15 thg 6, Neonatal imitation is the matching of (often facial) gestures by newborn Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. infants from 1 to 9 weeks of age do not imitate facial gestures such as Meltzoff and Moore's () report of facial and manual imitation by neonates.