Special Edition

Dinosaurs, Turtles, and Overimitation

When do children have a harder time solving simple puzzles than chimps? In a research study that will be published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Yale developmental psychologists Derek Lyons, Andrew Young, and Frank Keil give a surprising answer to this question.

Children’s powerful ability to imitate – a form of learning that serves them well in so many situations – can actually lead to confusion when they see an adult doing something in a disorganized or inefficient way. For example, when kids see an adult opening a puzzle in an unskillful, roundabout way, they are highly prone to overimitating that inefficient strategy – even copying irrelevant actions that chimpanzees know to ignore! You can find out more about overimitation right here, and discover why it's the kids who may ultimately have the last laugh. More...