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There is no compelling evidence that human neonates imitate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2017

Siobhan Kennedy-Costantini ,
Janine Oostenbroek ,
Thomas Suddendorf ,
Mark Nielsen ,
Jonathan Redshaw ,
Jacqueline Davis ,
Sally Clark  and
Virginia Slaughter
Siobhan Kennedy-Costantini
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, AKL 1010, New Zealand. s.kennedycostantini@gmail.comhttps://skennedycostantini.com
Janine Oostenbroek
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903. janineoostenbroek@gmail.com
Thomas Suddendorf
Affiliation:
Early Cognitive Development Centre, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. t.suddendorf@psy.uq.edu.auj.redshaw@uq.edu.auvps@psy.uq.edu.au
Mark Nielsen
Affiliation:
Early Cognitive Development Centre, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. t.suddendorf@psy.uq.edu.auj.redshaw@uq.edu.auvps@psy.uq.edu.au Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa. m.nielsen@psy.uq.edu.au
Jonathan Redshaw
Affiliation:
Early Cognitive Development Centre, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. t.suddendorf@psy.uq.edu.auj.redshaw@uq.edu.auvps@psy.uq.edu.au
Jacqueline Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. jtmdavisemail@gmail.com
Sally Clark
Affiliation:
Early Cognitive Development Centre, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. t.suddendorf@psy.uq.edu.auj.redshaw@uq.edu.auvps@psy.uq.edu.au
Virginia Slaughter
Affiliation:
Early Cognitive Development Centre, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. t.suddendorf@psy.uq.edu.auj.redshaw@uq.edu.auvps@psy.uq.edu.au
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Abstract

Keven & Akins (K&A) propose that neonatal “imitation” is a function of newborns' spontaneous oral stereotypies and should be viewed within the context of normal aerodigestive development. Their proposal is in line with the result of our recent large longitudinal study that found no compelling evidence for neonatal imitation. Together, these works prompt reconsideration of the developmental origin of genuine imitation.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e392
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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References

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