Cognitive Aspects of Preschoolers' Peer Imitation in a Play Situation

Abstract

MORRISON, HELEN, and KUHN, DEANNA. Cognitive Aspects of Preschoolers' Peer Imitation in a Play Situation. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1983, 54, 1054-1063. Over a period of several weeks, preschool children were observed playing in small groups with a commercially produced construction set. 7 performance levels were identified that reflected increasing levels of cognitive complexity in a child's activity with the materials. During the play sessions, subjects engaged in frequent observation of other children's activity. Attention to others' activity increased with age in children age 4-6. Subjects who showed stable gains in performance level across sessions engaged in more observation of others' activity than did subjects who showed only temporary gains, who in turn engaged in more observation of others' activity than did subjects who showed no gains. Observation of positively mismatched, particularly + 1-, and, to a lesser extent, 0-mismatched models was most common. Sequential analysis indicated a link between instances of positively mismatched (and particularly + 1-mismatched) observation and advances in performance following observation. The significance of the findings is discussed with regard to the role of imitation in cognitive development.

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