Exploring the Relationship between Imitation and Social Communication in Infants

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dc.contributor.authorHanika, Leslie
dc.contributor.supervisorBoyer, Wanda Arleen Rumson
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-17T15:01:13Z
dc.date.available2014-07-17T15:01:13Z
dc.date.copyright2014en_US
dc.date.issued2014-07-17
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en_US
dc.description.abstractThis study examined the relationship between emergent imitation skills and social communication skills in 15 to 18 month old infants, using a quantitative correlational research design. Imitation skills are an index of later social cognition and language development, and a critical mechanism in language learning for typically developing children. Social communication skills in this age predict later language skills. The relationship between imitation and social communication is poorly understood in infants. This study looked at the relationship between imitation and social communication at their emergence. This study included 30 typically developing infants, whose participation was volunteered by their parents. They were recruited through posters and word-of-mouth in communities in the Pacific Northwest. Infants’ imitation behaviors were measured using the Motor Imitation Scale (Stone, Ousley, & Littleford, 1997), and their social communication skills were measured using the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales- Developmental Profile (Wetherby & Prizant, 2002). This study used a naturalistic observation model so the one-hour play sessions took place in the infants' homes. Sessions were digitally recorded for later scoring and analysis. This study demonstrated a concurrent and predictive relationship between imitation and language understanding in this age group. The study suggests that imitation is an important variable in early language acquisition that needs further study, and needs to be addressed when assessing prelinguistic child development. The study suggests that imitation skills should be fostered early on and provides evidence-based methods for facilitating imitation and language development.en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0525en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0518en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0620en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0460en_US
dc.description.proquestemaillhanika@uvic.caen_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/5460
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rights.tempAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/*
dc.subjectimitationen_US
dc.subjectsocial communicationen_US
dc.subjectinfantsen_US
dc.subjecttypical developmenten_US
dc.subjectnaturalistic observationen_US
dc.subjectlanguage developmenten_US
dc.subjectchild developmenten_US
dc.titleExploring the Relationship between Imitation and Social Communication in Infantsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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