Does Neonatal Imitation Exist? Insights From a Meta-Analysis of 336 Effect Sizes.

Neonatal imitation is a cornerstone in many theoretical accounts of human development and social behavior, yet its existence has been debated for the past 40 years. To examine possible explanations for the inconsistent findings in this body of research, we conducted a multilevel meta-analysis synthesizing 336 effect sizes from 33 independent samples of human newborns, reported in 26 articles. The meta-analysis found significant evidence for neonatal imitation (d = 0.68, 95% CI = [0.39, 0.96], p < .001) but substantial heterogeneity between study estimates. This heterogeneity was not explained by any of 13 methodological moderators identified by previous reviews, but it was associated with researcher affiliation, test of moderators (QM) (15) = 57.09, p < .001. There are at least two possible explanations for these results: (a) Neonatal imitation exists and its detection varies as a function of uncaptured methodological factors common to a limited set of studies, and (2) neonatal imitation does not exist and the overall positive result is an artifact of high researcher degrees of freedom

Re-examination of Oostenbroek et al. (2016): evidence for neonatal imitation of tongue protrusion

The meaning, mechanism, and function of imitation in early infancy have been actively discussed since Meltzoff and Moore's (1977) report of facial and manual imitation by human neonates. Oostenbroek et al. (2016) claim to challenge the existence of early imitation and to counter all interpretations so far offered. Such claims, if true, would have implications for theories of social-cognitive development. Here we identify 11 flaws in Oostenbroek et al.'s experimental design that biased the results toward null effects. We requested and obtained the authors’ raw data. Contrary to the authors’ conclusions, new analyses reveal significant tongue-protrusion imitation at all four ages tested (1, 3, 6, and 9 weeks old). We explain how the authors missed this pattern and offer five recommendations for designing future experiments. Infant imitation raises fundamental issues about action representation, social learning, and brain–behavior relations. The debate about the origins and development of imitation reflects its importance to theories of developmental science

Proof of Concept of a Smartphone App to Support Delivery of an Intervention to Facilitate Mothers’ Mind-Mindedness

The present study reports on the first evaluation of a parenting intervention utilizing a smartphone app, BabyMind. The intervention aimed to facilitate mothers’ mind-mindedness—attunement to their infants’ internal states. Mothers in the intervention group (n=90) used the BabyMind app from their infants’ births and were followed up at age 6 months (n=66). Mothers in the control group (n=151) were recruited when their infants were age 6 months and had never used the BabyMind app. Mind-mindedness when interacting with their infants was significantly higher in intervention group mothers than in control group mothers. The intervention was equally effective in facilitating mind-mindedness in young and older mothers. These findings are discussed in terms of the potential for interventions utlizing smartphone apps to improve parenting and children’s developmental outcome in vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups

Long-term outcomes of slipped capital femoral epiphysis treated with in situ pinning

PURPOSE: Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is the commonest hip disorder in adolescents. In situ pinning is commonly performed, yet lately there has been an increase in procedures with open reduction and internal fixation. These procedures, however, are technically demanding with relatively high complication rates and unknown long-term outcomes. Nevertheless, reports on long-term results of in situ fixation are not equivocal. This study evaluates the possible higher risk of worse outcome after in situ pinning of SCFE. METHODS: All patients treated for SCFE with in situ fixation between 1980 and 2002 in four different hospitals were asked to participate. Patients were divided into three groups, based on severity of the slip. Patients were invited to the outpatient clinic for physical examination and X-rays, and to fill out the questionnaires HOOS, EQ5D, and SF36. ANOVA and chi-squared tests were used to analyze differences between groups. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients with 78 slips filled out the questionnaires. Patients with severe slips had worse scores on HOOS, EQ5D, and SF36. 75 % of patients with severe slips had severe osteoarthritis, compared to 2 % of mild and 11 % of moderate slips. CONCLUSION: Hips with mild and moderate SCFE generally had good functional and radiological outcome at a mean follow-up of 18 years, and for these hips there seems to be no indication for open procedures. However, severe slips have a significantly worse outcome, and open reduction and internal fixation could therefore be considered

Selective copying of the majority suggests children are broadly “optimal-” rather than “over-” imitators

Human children, in contrast to other species, are frequently cast as prolific “over-imitators”. However, previous studies of “over-imitation” have overlooked many important real-world social dynamics, and may thus provide an inaccurate account of this seemingly puzzling and potentially maladaptive phenomenon. Here we investigate this topic using a cultural evolutionary approach, focusing particularly on the key adaptive learning strategy of majority-biased copying. Most “over-imitation” research has been conducted using consistent demonstrations to the observer, but we systematically varied the frequency of demonstrators that 4- to 6-year-old children observed performing a causally irrelevant action. Children who “over-imitate” inflexibly should copy the majority regardless of whether the majority solution omits or includes a causally irrelevant action. However, we found that children calibrated their tendency to acquire the majority behavior, such that copying did not extend to majorities that performed irrelevant actions. These results are consistent with a highly functional, adaptive integration of social and causal information, rather than explanations implying unselective copying or causal misunderstanding. This suggests that our species might be better characterized as broadly “optimal-” rather than “over-” imitators