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Updated: Nov 12, 2025

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
Spontaneous verbal repetition in toddler-adult conversations: a longitudinal study with Spanish-speaking two-
Marta Casla1, Celia Méndez-Cabezas1, Ignacio Montero2
1Dpto. Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
The role of children's verbal repetition of parents' utterances on vocabulary growth has been well documented (Masur, 1999). Nevertheless, few studies have analyzed adults' and children's spontaneous verbal repetition around the second birthday distinguishing between the types of repetition. We analyzed longitudinally Spanish-speaking parent-child dyads during spontaneous interaction at 21, 24 and 30 months. Linguistic level was measured using the Spanish version of the MacArthur CDI (López-Ornat et al., 2005). Children's and adults' repetitions are about 17% of the speech. Children repeated adults' utterances in a reduced manner whereas adults produced more extended repetitions. Adults' rate of repetition predicted children's linguistic level at 30 months. Children's rate of repetition did not predict linguistic level. These results suggest that parents adapt their speech to children's communicative abilities. Since children's rate of repetition did not predict linguistic level, we suggest that verbal imitation plays an indirect and complex role in communicative development.
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