Do as I do, not as I say: Actions speak louder than words in preschoolers learning from others.
To date, no research has examined children's imitative abilities in the context of learning self-regulatory strategies from adults-especially when there is a conflict between communicative intent and later behavior. A sample of 84 4- and 5-year-olds performed a delay-of-gratification task after observing an adult perform the same task. Across four between-participants conditions, the model either did or did not state her intention to complete the task (positive vs. negative communication), modeled self-regulatory strategies, and then either did or did not complete the task successfully (positive vs. negative outcome). Children in the positive outcome conditions were more likely to imitate the novel strategies and successfully wait in both familiar and unfamiliar self-regulation tasks irrespective of the model's communicated intent. We discuss implications for practice and interventions.
['Corriveau|Kathleen H|KH|', 'Min|Grace|G|', 'Chin|Jason|J|', 'Doan|Stacey|S|']
D000328:Adult D002652:Child Behavior D002675:Child, Preschool D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007100:Imitative Behavior D033182:Intention D007858:Learning D008297:Male D014705:Verbal Behavior
Preschoolers Imitation Delay of gratification Social conventions Social learning Testimony