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Science 7 October 1977:
Vol. 198. no. 4312, pp. 75 - 78
DOI: 10.1126/science.198.4312.75
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Articles

Imitation of Facial and Manual Gestures by Human Neonates

ANDREW N. MELTZOFF 1 and M. KEITH MOORE 2

1 Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, England 0X1 3UD
2 Child Development and Mental Retardation Center, University of Washington, Seattle 98195

Infants between 12 and 21 days of age can imitate both facial and manual gestures; this behavior cannot be explained in terms of either conditioning or innate releasing mechanisms. Such imitation implies that human neonates can equate their own unseen behaviors with gestures they see others perform.

Submitted on January 31, 1977
Revised on May 23, 1977


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