Are children really trying to copy adults?
Last reviewed: 17.10.2021
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Contrary to the opinion of many adults, children copy and mimic other people for a reason: they make a lot of sense in this process.
Probably, there are no children who would not like to mimic their peers and even adults, while repeating these or other, seemingly baseless, actions. It is generally accepted that this is how children adapt to different situations. For example, if you ask a baby to do something, then for a start he will observe how another person does it, and only after that will copy his actions. By the way, most child psychologists think so. But the researchers noticed: if an adult suddenly decides to make a meaningless headstand, and only then proceed to the task, then the child will do the same, trying to stand on his head. And this, despite the evidence of the groundlessness of such an undertaking. Why it happens?
Specialists representing the universities of St. Andrews and Durham, believe that children's craving for senseless imitation is significantly exaggerated. University staff conducted an experiment led by Cara Evans. More than 250 children of different sexes took part in the research work, in the age range of 4-6 years. The children were shown a video in which adults removed the indicated container from a transparent plastic box. There were two cells in the box, and the container was in one of them. In order to take it, it was necessary to press a special foot, and then open the cell. Since the box was transparent, it was clearly visible where the container was. But adults for some reason previously opened an empty cell. In other words, the children were shown just that groundless action, which they supposedly had to copy.
The catch was that not in all cases, adults made a meaningless opening of an empty section - in some cases, only the desired cell was opened. It turned out that the children copied the adults according to the same principle: both the meaningless opening of the box and the meaningful opening of the desired cell were repeated. After several repetitions, small participants began to understand the absurdity of actions, and there were more and more children opening purposefully the desired section. There was a feeling that the participants were beginning to understand which of the adults was doing the right thing.
Thus, scientists concluded: children are really inclined to repeat everything, but they do it thoughtfully. If they are offered various variations of any actions, then they are likely to choose a more meaningful of them. It is important not to forget that children must be protected from memorizing any meaningless and empty information - only this is the concern of the adult generation.
Details of the study can be found on the page. Www.sciencenews.org/blog/growth-curve/kids-are-selective-imitators-not-extreme-copycats