Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Observational Learning01:12

Observational Learning

Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning because...
Nonconscious Mimicry01:13

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development

The preoperational stage, the second of Jean Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, spans approximately ages 2 to 7 and is characterized by the emergence of symbolic thinking. During this stage, children use language, images, and symbols to represent objects and concepts, enabling them to engage in imaginative and pretend play. This symbolic thinking supports children's ability to perform make-believe actions, such as imagining a broom as a horse or their hand as a phone, blending...
Steps in the Modeling Process01:14

Steps in the Modeling Process

Albert Bandura's theory of observational learning identifies four critical processes: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and reinforcement or motivation.
Attention is the first necessary component for observational learning. It involves focusing on what the model is doing and saying. For example, if you decide to take a drawing class to enhance your skills, you need to pay close attention to the instructor's words and hand movements. The characteristics of the model significantly...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Perceived autonomy during childbirth predicts mothers' parental self-efficacy: A prospective cohort study.

Journal of health psychology·2024
Same author

Basic psychological needs: A framework for understanding childbirth satisfaction.

Birth (Berkeley, Calif.)·2023
Same author

Challenging the Link Between Early Childhood Television Exposure and Later Attention Problems: A Multiverse Approach.

Psychological science·2021
Same author

Emotional Contexts Influence Toddlers' Prosocial Strategies.

International journal of behavioral development·2021
Same author

Acoustic Packaging of Action Sequences by Infants.

Infancy : the official journal of the International Society on Infant Studies·2021
Same author

Playdates: A Win-Win-Win Strategy for Recruitment of Infant Participants.

Infancy : the official journal of the International Society on Infant Studies·2020
Same journal

"I want to keep going": Differential effects of storybooks on children's perseverance.

Journal of experimental child psychology·2026
Same journal

Memory for a dinosaur exhibit: retrieval-based practice vs. restudy.

Journal of experimental child psychology·2026
Same journal

The interplay between Theory of Mind inferencing and visual attention in narrative comprehension in autistic preschoolers.

Journal of experimental child psychology·2026
Same journal

Executive function and preschoolers' responses to severe transgressions: implications for early forgiveness.

Journal of experimental child psychology·2026
Same journal

Shared cognitive risk factors underlying rapid automatized naming deficits for the comorbidity of developmental dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A computational parameter estimation via Bundesen's theory of visual attention.

Journal of experimental child psychology·2026
Same journal

Do young children understand the objectivity of reality?

Journal of experimental child psychology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
06:35

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Published on: April 28, 2016

Child-directed action promotes 2-year-olds' imitation.

Rebecca A Williamson1, Rebecca J Brand

  • 1Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|October 2, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Parental "motionese" (infant-directed speech modifications) significantly improved 2-year-olds' imitation of actions. Both infant- and adult-directed styles enhanced learning compared to no demonstration.

Keywords:
ImitationInfant-directed actionIntentionLearningSocial cognitionToddlers

More Related Videos

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task
11:18

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Published on: June 1, 2015

A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants
11:14

A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants

Published on: October 4, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 7, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
06:35

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Published on: April 28, 2016

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task
11:18

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Published on: June 1, 2015

A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants
11:14

A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants

Published on: October 4, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Development
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Children are natural learners, and adults frequently teach them.
  • Parents often modify their actions when interacting with infants, a style termed "motionese."

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if "motionese" enhances imitation skills in 2-year-old children.
  • To compare the effectiveness of infant-directed versus adult-directed action demonstrations on toddlers' learning.

Main Methods:

  • Two-year-old children observed an adult performing actions on novel objects.
  • Demonstrations were presented in either an infant-directed style (motionese) or an adult-directed style.
  • Children's imitation of the demonstrated actions was measured.

Main Results:

  • Children showed significantly higher imitation rates after observing the infant-directed "motionese" style compared to the adult-directed style.
  • Both demonstration styles led to increased imitation compared to a baseline condition with no demonstration.
  • Motionese appears to provide clearer information about actions, objects, and intentionality.

Conclusions:

  • Infant-directed action modifications ("motionese") enhance toddlers' observational learning and imitation.
  • The findings suggest that specific communicative actions in speech and gesture aid early learning.
  • Motionese may be a crucial component in early childhood education and parent-child interaction.