The Relationship between Ability Level and Task Difficulty in Producing Imitation in Infants

HARNICK, FRANCES S. The Relationship between Ability Level and Task Difficulty in Producing Imitation in Infants. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 209-212. This study investigated the relationship between task difficulty and ability level as a factor in producing imitative behavior in infants. 28 toddlers, ranging in age from 14 to 28 months, participated in the study. A female model performed irrelevant and task-related behaviors for problems of increasing difficulty. The results indicated that the infants imitated the irrelevant behaviors if the task was of moderate