Meltzoff and Moore Flashcards
What type of study was it?
A controlled observation.
What was the aim of the study?
To investigate infant-caregiver interactions, more specifically interactional synchrony.
What was performed by an adult?
One of four different stimuli.
What did the infant have initially and why?
A dummy in their mouth to prevent any imitation.
What happened after the dummy was removed?
The stimuli was performed again and the infants expressions were recorded.
What were the findings of the study?
Infants of 2-3 weeks old imitated the facial and hand expressions of the models.
What were the conclusions of the study?
As the infants were only 2-3 weeks old the behaviour they were displaying ruled out the possibility that imagination behaviours were learned (behavioural response must be inate)
How did they evaluate the study?
Repeated the experiment with 2-3 days old babies (don’t have enough time to learn the expression) as it was argued the behaviour had been learned. The babies still imitated the behaviour.
