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Toddlers' responsive imitation predicts preschool-age conscience.

David R Forman1, Nazan Aksan, Grazyna Kochanska

  • 1University of Minnesota, USA. david.forman@concordia.ca

Psychological Science
|September 28, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Toddlers

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Moral Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Conscience development is theorized to involve moral internalization.
  • Imitation is a proposed mechanism for conscience development.
  • Previous research has not used an individual differences approach to test imitation's predictive power for moral behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if individual differences in toddlers' responsive imitation predict the development of conscience in preschool years.
  • To examine the longitudinal relationship between early imitation skills and later moral behavior.
  • To explore the roles of imitation matching behavior and motivation in predicting conscience.

Main Methods:

  • A longitudinal study design was employed.
  • Mothers modeled actions for toddlers to imitate at 14 and 22 months.
  • Children's imitation (matching behavior and motivation) and later conscience (internalized conduct and guilt) were assessed at multiple time points up to 45 months.

Main Results:

  • Imitation measures consistently predicted conscience variables in preschool-aged children.
  • The predictive relationship between imitation and conscience was strengthened by aggregating measures and assessment times.
  • Both imitation matching behavior and motivation independently contributed unique variance in predicting conscience.

Conclusions:

  • Responsive imitation in toddlers is a significant predictor of early conscience development.
  • Findings support the view that imitation reflects a receptive stance towards parental guidance.
  • Results align with neopsychoanalytic and social cognitive theories on imitation's role in moral development.

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