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The interaction of social and perceivable causal factors in shaping ‘over-imitation’

Burdett, Emily R.R.; McGuigan, Nicola; Harrison, Rachel; Whiten, Andrew

Authors

Nicola McGuigan

Rachel Harrison

Andrew Whiten



Contributors

Abstract

Over-imitation has become a well-documented phenomenon. However there is evidence that both social and visible, physically causal factors can influence the occurrence of over-imitation in children. Here we explore the interplay between these two factors, manipulating both task opacity and social information. Four- to 7-year-old children were given either a causally opaque or transparent box, before which they experienced either (1) a condition where they witnessed a taught, knowledgeable person demonstrate an inefficient method and an untaught model demonstrate a more efficient method; or (2) a baseline condition where they witnessed efficient and inefficient methods performed by two untaught models. Results showed that the level of imitation increased with greater task opacity and when children received social information about knowledgeability consequent on teaching, but only for 6- to 7-year-olds. The findings show that children are selectively attuned to both causal and social factors when learning new cultural knowledge.

Citation

Burdett, E. R., McGuigan, N., Harrison, R., & Whiten, A. (2018). The interaction of social and perceivable causal factors in shaping ‘over-imitation’. Cognitive Development, 47, 8-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.02.001

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 1, 2018
Online Publication Date Feb 24, 2018
Publication Date Jul 1, 2018
Deposit Date Nov 28, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Cognitive Development
Print ISSN 0885-2014
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 47
Pages 8-18
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.02.001
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2839478
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885201417301296?via%3Dihub