IMITATION AND CIRCULAR REACTIONS AS EVOLVED MECHANISMS FOR COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTION

The purpose of this article is to elaborate and extend some of Baldwin 's and Plaget's ideas concerning the self-teaching functions of imitat ion and circular reactions. It is argued that circular reactions are e volved means for self-induced cognitive construction and that imitatio n is an evolved means for self- and other-induced cognitive constructi on. Comparative data on the taxonomic distribution of imitation and ci rcular reactions in monkeys and apes suggest that these means for cogn itive construction are rare among primates and must have evolved first in the common ancestor of great apes and humans.