Playtime and imitation in 4-month-olds
The ability to imitate is a crucial part of our social development and function as human beings.
Existing evidence supporting the claim that we are born with this capacity has been found to be insubstantial, and this study thus endeavours to readdress the question of whether imitation is innate, learned, or a combination of both.
Participation in this study involves you coming into our labs with your child to participate in an imitation task. In this task, we will record your child’s behaviour while they view live presentations of various facial and manual gestures.
We will run two of such sessions, the first one being while your child is 4.5 months old and the second being when they are 6 months old. After the first session, we will provide you with instructions on how to facilitate a daily 10-minute playtime for your child, which we would appreciate if you could carry out for the whole 1.5 months between the two sessions.
Eligibility
Parents and carers of infants soon to be 4.5 months old.
You are welcome to register if you are interested but are still expecting, or your child is not yet 4 months old.
Participant benefits
Participants will receive a $20 e-gift voucher as compensation for their travel time, as well as a certificate and a small gift for their participation.
Register your interest
For more information and to register to participate, please visit the link below.
This study has been approved by The University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee [2023/HE000889].