The Role of a Model's Age for Young Children's Imitation: A Research Review

Autor/inn/en	Zmyj, Norbert; Seehagen, Sabine
Titel	The Role of a Model's Age for Young Children's Imitation: A Research Review
Quelle	In: Infant and Child Development, 22 (2013) 6, S.622-641 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1522-7227
DOI	10.1002/icd.1811
Schlagwörter	Age Differences; Role Models; Child Behavior; Child Development; Young Children; Imitation; Familiarity; Social Influences; Peer Influence; Novelty (Stimulus Dimension); Adults; Competence; Literature Reviews + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Identifikationsfigur; Kindesentwicklung; Frühe Kindheit; Sozialer Einfluss; Kompetenz
Abstract	The influence of a model's age on young children's behaviour has been a subject of considerable debate among developmental theorists. Despite the recent surge of interest, controversy remains about the nature of peer influence in early life. This article reviews studies that investigated the influence of a model's age on young children's behaviour in the first 5?years of life, and presents an account of seemingly mixed results. We propose that children imitate familiar behaviour for social reasons, such as in order to identify with the model or to communicate likeness. Since age is an important indicator of the degree of being alike, we propose that children are more likely to imitate familiar behaviour from peers. In contrast, we propose that children primarily imitate novel behaviour for learning reasons. Since adults are perceived as being more competent than children, children are more likely to learn from adults. We further suggest that increased peer experience leads children to evaluate peers as valuable resources for learning novel behaviour in domains in which peers are knowledgeable. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10