| Abstract: | Examined 2 hypotheses concerning possible facilitative effects of imitation on lexical acquisition, using comprehension as well as production as metrics for lexical emergence. Three experiments, with 33 children aged 1 yr 4 mo to 2 yrs, provided evidence that imitation may facilitate children's ability to acquire words in production and that imitation of such words may decline only after a period in which the words are used both imitatively and spontaneously. Preliminary support was also found for a 3rd hypothesis: In some cases imitation of novel words may enable the child to respond to others when he/she is unable to contribute original information to the topic. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
