Poster #195 - Immediate and Deferred Imitation: Varying Contributions of Temperament, Working Memory, and Mental Development

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Social Cognition

Integrative Statement

Introduction
Deferred imitation is frequently used to assess memory and related mental functioning in early childhood, and shows both individual stability and developmental change (e.g., Heimann & Melzoff, 1996). Similar trends are evident for imitation that immediately follows a demonstration. In addition, imitation may reflect social development (e.g., Schleihauf et al, 2018). Although immediate and deferred imitation are related, the nature and goals of the behaviors may differ (e.g., Simpson & Riggs, 2011), suggesting that these two types of imitation may reflect different facets of the Social Cognitive Learning model.
Method
The present study investigated sociocognitive factors underlying immediate and deferred imitation in 632 36-month old children.
Imitation was assessed via two items: “Trap-tube” (adapted from Want & Harris, 2001), and “Gleeps”, a task wherein two novel toys are labeled and presented with unique vocalizations/gestures. Imitation for each task was assessed both immediately following demonstration and after an approximate 30-minute delay. Scores at each recall point were combined to form a composite immediate (I) and deferred (DI) imitation score.
Mental functioning (MDI) was assessed via Mental Development Index scores from the BSID-II (Bayley, 1994).
Observer ratings of Affect/Extraversion (A/E) and Task Orientation (TO) were obtained via the Bayley Infant Behavior Record.
Working Memory (WM) was assessed via the Visually-Cued Recall task (Zelazo et al., 2002) and four memory items from the BSID-II. A composite WM score was formed from the average of the measures’ standardized scores.
Results
Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for all measures.
Correlational analyses revealed a moderately strong association between immediate and deferred imitation. Both imitation measures were modestly associated with WM, and showed moderate associations with MDI, A/E, and TO (Table 2).
Multiple regression was performed on immediate imitation using WM, MDI, A/E, and TO as predictors. The model was significant, accounting for 20% of total variance, F(5,593) = 38.22, p< .0001. Affect/Extraversion (β = .335, p<.001), MDI (β = .225, p<.001), and WM (β = -.217, p<.001) all made unique contributions to the variance.
Multiple regression was likewise performed on deferred imitation using immediate imitation, MDI, WM, A/E, and TO as predictors. The model was significant and explained 43% of total variance, F(5,592) = 90.70, p< .0001. Of the four candidate predictor variables, however, only immediate imitation (β = .560, p<.001) was found to contribute significantly to the model.
Discussion
In addition to memory and related mental functioning, the social desire to affiliate with or learn from a presumed reliable model may enhance one’s propensity to attend to, rehearse, and copy the model’s actions. Thus, the contributions of A/E, MDI, and WM to immediate imitation in the present research make sense. The association between immediate and deferred imitation is likewise not surprising, as rehearsal and contextual similarity can aid encoding and recall of novel actions. Interestingly, however, the measures of mental and social functioning employed in the present research did not yield evidence for significant contributions to deferred imitation beyond those influencing immediate imitation, suggesting that different underlying processes may be at work.

Authors

• Sue Fenstermacher, University of Vermont
  Presenting Author

• Kimberly Saudino, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author