Children show selectively increased language imitation after experiencing ostracism

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Ostracism, or social exclusion, can trigger affiliative behaviors like imitation to mend social bonds.
• Previous research has primarily focused on motor imitation following ostracism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if ostracism influences children's tendency to imitate a partner's language use.
• To examine the selective impact of ostracism on lexical versus syntactic alignment in children's communication.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments involving 7- to 12-year-old children.
• Children experienced either ostracism or no ostracism in a virtual ball-throwing game.
• Language alignment (lexical and syntactic) was measured during a subsequent picture-matching game.

Main Results:

• Children demonstrated a strong tendency for spontaneous lexical and grammatical alignment with their partner.
• Experiencing ostracism significantly modulated the likelihood of lexical alignment.
• Ostracism did not affect syntactic alignment, indicating a selective influence.

Conclusions:

• Ostracism selectively influences children's lexical language imitation, but not syntactic imitation.
• Social-affective factors, like ostracism, play a crucial role in children's communicative development.
• The link between ostracism and imitation extends beyond motor behaviors to encompass language use.