231 IMITATION DURING MOTHER-INFANT INTERACTION Janet Marcus, University of Chicago What infants can imitate and at what age have been the questions most often addressed by studies of infant imitation. The present study differs from these in its emphasis on the timing of imitation during mother-infant interaction. Gaze, mouth, and arm behavior were transcribed independently and found reliable to half a second. Such data permit the examination of placement, form, and number of actions relative to each partner's activity in real-tlme. Eighteen infants, 3 of each sex at 6, 13 and 26 weeks, and their mothers, were videotaped in both a 7 minute free interaction session and a 5 minute maternal imitation session. The following questions are addressed through sequential analyses: i. (a) Do infants imitate their mothers at 6 weeks in the present study? or (b) Do mothers make it appear that their infants are imitating them in face- to-face interactions by reproducing their infants' behavior between their infants' productions? 2. (a) Do infants imitate their ongoing behavior reflected back to them before (b) imitating their mothers' more spontaneous actions (not immediate repetitions of the infants' behavior)? 3. How does the quality of these imitative interactions change over the first six months of life with respect to particular actions, contingencies, and infant imitations and approximations? Results are presented with respect to individual dyad as well as group differences.

Imitation during mother-infant interaction

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IMITATION DURING MOTHER-INFANT INTERACTION

Janet Marcus, University of Chicago

What infants can imitate and at what age have been the questions most often addressed by studies of infant imitation. The present study differs from these in its emphasis on the timing of imitation during mother-infant interaction. Gaze, mouth, and arm behavior were transcribed independently and found reliable to half a second. Such data permit the examination of placement, form, and number of actions relative to each partner's activity in real-tlme. Eighteen infants, 3 of each sex at 6, 13 and 26 weeks, and their mothers, were videotaped in both a 7�89 minute free interaction session and a 5 minute maternal imitation session. The following questions are addressed through sequential analyses: i. (a) Do infants imitate their mothers at 6 weeks in the present study? or (b) Do mothers make it appear that their infants are imitating them in face- to-face interactions by reproducing their infants' behavior between their infants' productions? 2. (a) Do infants imitate their ongoing behavior reflected back to them before (b) imitating their mothers' more spontaneous actions (not immediate repetitions of the infants' behavior)? 3. How does the quality of these imitative interactions change over the first six months of life with respect to particular actions, contingencies, and infant imitations and approximations? Results are presented with respect to individual dyad as well as group differences.