Why Do Children Imitate Adults?

For better or for worse, children imitate adults. Almost without our noticing it, their childish looks study and assist us, integrating behaviors, copying gestures, internalizing words, expressions and even roles. It is clear that our children will never be exact copies of their parents; however, the impression we leave on them is often decisive.

This is a fact that has always been evident to us in the field of developmental psychology. Albert Bandura, for example, a renowned psychologist in the field of social learning, told us at the time about a key concept such as “modeling”. According to this approach, people learn by imitating the behaviors of our environment, of these social models with which we grow up or with which we are in contact.

Therefore, children do not just imitate their parents. As we know, our children do not live in an isolated environment. Today, they have more social stimuli than ever before, models that even go beyond home and school. We also cannot forget television and these new technologies where they move from an early age as true natives.

Everything they see, everything they hear and everything that happens around them influences and determines them. We adults are this vast theater of characters that they imitate and who will eventually influence their behavior and even their way of understanding the world. See more data below.

Why do children imitate adults?

We know children imitate adults, but… why do they really do it? Developmental psychologist Moritz Daum from the University of Zurich makes an interesting point about this. This almost instinctive behavior in humans (and also in animals) serves us more than learning. Imitation also creates a sense of belonging, helps us identify with a certain group.

Is it true that children are like sponges and tend to imitate everything they see? Also, at what age do they start looking at their surroundings to start posing as models? Let us examine these questions and more.

When do children start imitating adults?

It is known that mimicry begins shortly after birth. There are newborns who copy facial movements, for example by sticking their tongue out. However, it is around the age of one that this whole process comes to fruition.

By this age, six-month-old babies already understand intentional behavior. What does that mean ? For example, when they see mom or dad come and hug them, they’ll feel good. They already understand what is pleasant and unpleasant in their daily life. All of this forms a basis for recognizing patterns and behaviors, for understanding that after certain actions, others occur.

It is between 19 and 24 months that children begin to copy a lot of things from what they see in others. They imitate their parents, older siblings and also what they see on television. They do it to learn, but also to be equal to others, to feel included in a social group.

Do the children choose who and what to imitate?

When children are asked if they imitate by simple mimicry or if they tend to choose what to copy or not, it is interesting to know that there are certain stimuli that they like more than others. . It has been found that when a child is surrounded by other children his age and adults, he will tend to imitate the behavior of his peers. Mirror neurons are much more activated when they are in front of a person with characteristics similar to theirs.

However, when a child needs to learn something specific, he turns to adults. This principle is part of Lev Vygotsky’s theory on the zone of proximal development. That is, they know that with the right support, they can move on to another level, to another phase of greater competence. But to do this, they need “expert role models”, ie adults.

On the other hand, there is one detail that we will certainly find interesting. According to a study at the University of London by Dr Victoria South, 18-month-olds already tend to imitate what is familiar to them, which is repeated several times and is accompanied by language. In fact, this is how communication processes mature.

Young people do not know if what they are imitating is appropriate or not

A study conducted at Yale University found something striking. Derek Lions, author of this work, points out that children, during a specific period of their lives, mimic adults excessively and mimically. It is during the first five years that this overprinting occurs.

• That is, they still lack that critical sense or that more sophisticated thinking to deduce that what adults do or say is appropriate, useful or moral.

• An example. In this work, an experiment was carried out. A group of adults showed 3-year-olds how to open a box. The way they did it was somewhat complex, adding completely unnecessary and almost ridiculous steps that delayed opening the box.
• When the children tried it themselves, they copied all of the adult’s steps, including those that were unnecessary
• However, this same test was applied to another group of children of the same age, who were asked to perform the exercise without any example, without any adult as a role model. The children solved the exercise without any additional steps

All these data confirm our intuition. Children learn by observing everything around them, but they pay special attention to their mother and father. Being their best role model is a big responsibility, perhaps the most important of all.

From us they will learn good and bad, every adult will be this mirror in which to look at and imitate for a while, so let’s take the greatest care of every behavior, every gesture and every word to be their springboard towards happiness and well-being.

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