Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Maciej Chudek, A. Baron, Susan Birch (2016)
Unselective Overimitators: The Evolutionary Implications of Children's Indiscriminate Copying of Successful and Prestigious Models.Child development, 87 3
Mark Nielsen, K. Tomaselli (2010)
Overimitation in Kalahari Bushman Children and the Origins of Human Cultural CognitionPsychological Science, 21
Janine Oostenbroek, Harriet Over (2015)
Young children contrast their behavior to that of out-group members.Journal of experimental child psychology, 139
Mark Nielsen, Cornelia Blank (2011)
Imitation in young children: when who gets copied is more important than what gets copied.Developmental psychology, 47 4
N. McGuigan (2013)
The influence of model status on the tendency of young children to over-imitate.Journal of experimental child psychology, 116 4
C. Lumsden (1986)
Culture and the Evolutionary Process, Robert Boyd, Peter J. Richerson. University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London (1985), viii, +301. Price $29.95Animal Behaviour, 34
G. Csibra, G. Gergely (2006)
Processes of change in brain and cognitive development
Matti Wilks, E. Collier-Baker, Mark Nielsen (2015)
Preschool children favor copying a successful individual over an unsuccessful group.Developmental science, 18 6
B. Kenward, Markus Karlsson, J. Persson (2011)
Over-imitation is better explained by norm learning than by distorted causal learningProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278
Lara Wood, R. Kendal, Emma Flynn (2012)
Context-dependent model-based biases in cultural transmission: children's imitation is affected by model age over model knowledge stateEvolution and Human Behavior, 33
T. Morgan, L. Rendell, Micael Ehn, W. Hoppitt, K. Laland (2012)
The evolutionary basis of human social learningProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279
M. Fusaro, P. Harris (2008)
Children assess informant reliability using bystanders' non-verbal cues.Developmental science, 11 5
D. Haun, Yvonne Rekers, M. Tomasello (2012)
Majority-Biased Transmission in Chimpanzees and Human Children, but Not OrangutansCurrent Biology, 22
Susan Birch, Sophie Vauthier, P. Bloom (2008)
Three- and four-year-olds spontaneously use others’ past performance to guide their learningCognition, 107
D. Lyons, Andrew Young, F. Keil (2007)
The hidden structure of overimitationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104
N. McGuigan, S. Robertson (2015)
The influence of peers on the tendency of 3- and 4-year-old children to over-imitate.Journal of experimental child psychology, 136
Lara Wood, R. Kendal, Emma Flynn (2013)
Copy me or copy you? The effect of prior experience on social learningCognition, 127
C. Legare, Nicole Wen, P. Herrmann, H. Whitehouse (2015)
Imitative flexibility and the development of cultural learningCognition, 142
D. Lyons, Diana Damrosch, Jennifer Lin, D. Macris, F. Keil (2011)
The scope and limits of overimitation in the transmission of artefact culturePhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366
Harriet Over, M. Carpenter (2012)
Putting the social into social learning: explaining both selectivity and fidelity in children's copying behavior.Journal of comparative psychology, 126 2
A. Kandler, K. Laland (2013)
Tradeoffs between the strength of conformity and number of conformists in variable environments.Journal of theoretical biology, 332
K. Laland (2004)
Social learning strategiesAnimal Learning & Behavior, 32
K. Corriveau, M. Fusaro, P. Harris (2009)
Going With the FlowPsychological Science, 20
Julie Coultas (2004)
When in Rome... An Evolutionary Perspective on ConformityGroup Processes & Intergroup Relations, 7
N. McGuigan, A. Whiten, Emma Flynn, V. Horner (2007)
Imitation of causally opaque versus causally transparent tool use by 3- and 5-year-old childrenCognitive Development, 22
B. Kenward (2012)
Over-imitating preschoolers believe unnecessary actions are normative and enforce their performance by a third party.Journal of experimental child psychology, 112 2
A. Whiten, N. McGuigan, S. Marshall-Pescini, Lydia Hopper (2009)
Emulation, imitation, over-imitation and the scope of culture for child and chimpanzeePhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364
R. Schillaci, D. Kelemen (2014)
Children's Conformity When Acquiring Novel Conventions: The Case of ArtifactsJournal of Cognition and Development, 15
Stephen Want, P. Harris (2001)
Learning from other people's mistakes: causal understanding in learning to use a tool.Child development, 72 2
M. Carpenter, Nameera Akhtar, M. Tomasello (1998)
Fourteen-through 18-month-old infants di eren-tially imitate intentional and accidental actions
S. Asch (1956)
Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority., 70
A. Meltzoff (2007)
'Like me': a foundation for social cognition.Developmental science, 10 1
R. Boyd, P.J. Richerson (1985)
Culture and the evolutionary process
Lara Wood, R. Kendal, Emma Flynn (2013)
Whom do children copy? Model-based biases in social learningDevelopmental Review, 33
Max Wolf, R. Kurvers, A. Ward, S. Krause, J. Krause (2013)
Accurate decisions in an uncertain world: collective cognition increases true positives while decreasing false positivesProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280
R. Kendal, J. Kendal, W. Hoppitt, K. Laland (2009)
Identifying Social Learning in Animal Populations: A New ‘Option-Bias’ MethodPLoS ONE, 4
S. Einav (2014)
Does the Majority Always Know Best? Young Children's Flexible Trust in Majority OpinionPLoS ONE, 9
C. Legare, Mark Nielsen (2015)
Imitation and Innovation: The Dual Engines of Cultural LearningTrends in Cognitive Sciences, 19
Stefanie Keupp, Tanya Behne, Joanna Zachow, A. Kasbohm, H. Rakoczy (2015)
Over-imitation is not automatic: context sensitivity in children's overimitation and action interpretation of causally irrelevant actions.Journal of experimental child psychology, 130
M. Carpenter, J. Call, M. Tomasello (2005)
Twelve- and 18-month-olds copy actions in terms of goals.Developmental science, 8 1
Stefanie Keupp, Christin Bancken, Jelka Schillmöller, H. Rakoczy, Tanya Behne (2016)
Rational over-imitation: Preschoolers consider material costs and copy causally irrelevant actions selectivelyCognition, 147
P. Herrmann, C. Legare, P. Harris, H. Whitehouse (2013)
Stick to the script: The effect of witnessing multiple actors on children’s imitationCognition, 129
J. Stevenson (2001)
The cultural origins of human cognitionAmerican Journal of Human Biology, 13
Mark Nielsen, Ilana Mushin, K. Tomaselli, A. Whiten (2014)
Where culture takes hold: "overimitation" and its flexible deployment in Western, Aboriginal, and Bushmen children.Child development, 85 6
L. Rendell, L. Fogarty, W. Hoppitt, T. Morgan, M. Webster, K. Laland (2011)
Cognitive culture: theoretical and empirical insights into social learning strategiesTrends in Cognitive Sciences, 15
N. McGuigan, Jenny Makinson, A. Whiten (2011)
From over-imitation to super-copying: adults imitate causally irrelevant aspects of tool use with higher fidelity than young children.British journal of psychology, 102 1
C. Moraru, J. Gomez, N. McGuigan (2016)
Developmental changes in the influence of conventional and instrumental cues on over-imitation in 3- to 6-year-old children.Journal of experimental child psychology, 145
G. Csibra, G. Gergely (2006)
Social learning and social cognition: The case for pedagogy, 62
T. Morgan, K. Laland, P. Harris (2015)
The development of adaptive conformity in young children: effects of uncertainty and consensus.Developmental science, 18 4
J. Clegg, C. Legare (2016)
Instrumental and Conventional Interpretations of Behavior Are Associated With Distinct Outcomes in Early Childhood.Child development, 87 2
V. Horner, A. Whiten (2005)
Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens)Animal Cognition, 8
Harriet Over, M. Carpenter (2013)
The social side of imitationChild Development Perspectives, 7
G. Gergely, H. Bekkering, I. Király (2002)
Developmental psychology: Rational imitation in preverbal infantsNature, 415
G. Gergely, H. Bekkering, I. Király (2002)
Rational imitation in preverbal infants, 415
L. Dean, R. Kendal, S. Schapiro, B. Thierry, K. Laland (2012)
Identification of the Social and Cognitive Processes Underlying Human Cumulative CultureScience, 335
K.H. Corriveau, M. Fusaro, P.L. Harris (2009)
Going with the flow: Preschoolers prefer nondissenters as informants, 20
Human children, in contrast to other species, are frequently cast as prolific “over‐imitators”. However, previous studies of “over‐imitation” have overlooked many important real‐world social dynamics, and may thus provide an inaccurate account of this seemingly puzzling and potentially maladaptive phenomenon. Here we investigate this topic using a cultural evolutionary approach, focusing particularly on the key adaptive learning strategy of majority‐biased copying. Most “over‐imitation” research has been conducted using consistent demonstrations to the observer, but we systematically varied the frequency of demonstrators that 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children observed performing a causally irrelevant action. Children who “over‐imitate” inflexibly should copy the majority regardless of whether the majority solution omits or includes a causally irrelevant action. However, we found that children calibrated their tendency to acquire the majority behavior, such that copying did not extend to majorities that performed irrelevant actions. These results are consistent with a highly functional, adaptive integration of social and causal information, rather than explanations implying unselective copying or causal misunderstanding. This suggests that our species might be better characterized as broadly “optimal‐” rather than “over‐” imitators.
Developmental Science – Wiley
Published: Jan 1, 2018
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.