Delayed imitation of complex behavioural sequences by 14- to 16-month olds

The present study was conducted to determine if children under the age of 1 8 months can exhibit delayed imitation of three-event sequences when they h ave no opportunity to practice, Twenty-three 14- to 16-month-old children u nderwent two different imitation conditions. In the practice condition the children could imitate the sequence immediately after modelling; then they were tested 1 or 7 days later. In the no practice condition the children ha d the chance to imitate only on the test day. Children were able to imitate the sequences under both conditions irrespective of the delay period. They produced significantly more target actions, and more target actions in the correct order, in the test phase and cued recall phase, compared with the baseline. There were no differences between the two conditions with a 1-day delay period, but after a 7-day delay, the number of target actions produc ed during the practice condition was significantly higher than those in the no practice condition. The results are discussed in terms of nonverbal mim etic representations. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.