title: The ghost condition: imitation versus emulation in young children's observational learning.
abstract: Although observational learning by children may occur through imitating a modeler's actions, it can also occur through learning about an object's dynamic affordances--a process that M. Tomasello (1996) calls "emulation." The relative contributions of imitation and emulation within observational learning were examined in a study with 14- to 26-month-old children. The effectiveness of a "ghost" condition, in which the effective operation of the means apparatus was seen to occur without human agency, was compared with that of a standard modeling procedure in which the child saw an experimenter demonstrate the means action. The ghost condition was as likely to encourage observational learning as was the modeling condition; indeed, performance in the ghost condition was significantly better. The role of emulation in the development of observational learning is discussed in the context of a possible form of goal directedness without agency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, U Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. d.thompson@strath.ac.uk
authors.forename: Doreen E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Russell
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009949:Orientation; D011340:Problem Solving; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014796:Visual Perception