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The Relation Between Goal-Predictive Gaze Behavior and Imitation-A Live Eye-Tracking Study in 12-Month-Olds
Franziska Sieber1, Jan Czarnomski1, Moritz M Daum2
1TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany.
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Children learn from others by imitating observed behavior. According to some theorists, to imitate an agent's action, infants need to identify the agent's action goal. To test this assumption, goal-predictive gaze shifts of 104 German 12-month-olds (57 female) were measured using live eye-tracking. These goal-predictive gaze shifts were related to their imitation of an action performed by a live model. This relationship was controlled for in terms of cognitive developmental status. We used one task of the imitation battery FIT 12 and analyzed the infants' imitation and goal-predictive gaze shifts. The infants showed goal-predictive gaze shifts to actions presented at a realistic speed. Furthermore, imitation was related to their goal-predictive gaze shifts. This association was partially explained by cognitive-developmental status, which should be considered an important factor in the development of imitation.
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