Psychological Development and Education ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (5): 624-632.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2020.05.14

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Evolution or Degeneration: The Cultural Generality and Variation of Children's Over-imitation

WANG Yiyi1,2, SU Yanjie1,2   

  1. 1. School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing 100871;
    2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871
  • Published:2020-09-12

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Abstract: Sometimes children imitate actions that are causally irrelevant to the goal, which is called over-imitation. This article reviewed evidence of the generality and variation of children's over-imitation under different cultures and discussed the possible underlying mechanism of over-imitation. Over-imitation was found on children from different cultures, which suggested that it might be the general product of human cumulative civilization. However, the tendency of children's over-imitation under different cultures varied a lot. These variation might be attributed to the living environment, pedagogical learning and stress on social norms of different cultures. Future studies can explore more about the specific role of cultural factors in over-imitation and compare the developmental process of over-imitation under different cultures. This can shed some light on the role of over-imitation in the development of human civilization.

Key words: over-imitation, culture, children, human civilization

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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