| Abstract | Rani razvoj djeteta u velikoj je mjeri određen okolinskim utjecajima. Kulturološke specifičnosti okruženja (kao što su jezik i korištenje predmeta) djeca usvajaju transakcijskim modelom prijenosa znanja, a glavni posrednici u prijenosu znanja o svijetu su odrasli. Pri tome oponašanje drugih u ranom razvoju predstavlja izrazito snažan mehanizam učenja. Međutim, djeca ne ponašaju sve što vide i čuju, već se oslanjaju na komunikacijske i socijalne signale koji potpomažu sam proces oponašanja, ali im i pomažu selektirati ono što je uopće vrijedno oponašati i preuzeti od drugih.
Kada komuniciraju s djecom, odrasli mijenjaju obilježja komunikacije – kako svoj govor
tako i pokrete koje izvode. Ova ponašanja u literaturi su prepoznata kao djetetu usmjerena
ponašanja. Učinci koji ta ponašanja imaju na interakciju, komunikaciju, učenje i sveukupno
ponašanje djeteta tek su djelomično istraženi, a utjecaj njihovog združenog djelovanja u odnosu
na učinak modifikacije u samo jednom modalitetu nije ispitan.
Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati pojedinačni utjecaj djetetu usmjerenog govora
(DUG) i djetetu usmjerenih pokreta (DUP), kao i njihove sinkronizirane pojave na oponašanje
radnji s novim predmetima i pojavnost verbalnog oponašanja u djece dobi 18 mjeseci.
Eksperimentalni istraživački nacrt uključivao je podjelu sudionika (N=120) u četiri
skupine. Svima skupinama bili su predstavljeni zadaci oponašanja radnji s predmetom preuzeti
iz Frankfurtskog testa oponašanja, no zadaci su svakoj skupini bili predstavljeni na jedan od
četiri načina: uz neutralno predstavljanje (NP), predstavljanje uz DUG, predstavljanje uz DUP
i predstavljanje uz združeno djelovanje DUG-a i DUP-a. Sveukupno je djeci predstavljeno 14
zadataka koji su imali od jednog do šest koraka. Bilježila se uspješnost u oponašanja radnji s
predmetima na svim koracima svih zadataka, kao i pojavnost spontanog verbalnog oponašanja.
Rezultati su pokazali da djeca uspješnije oponašaju radnje s predmetima i češće
verbalno oponašaju u pojedinačnim uvjetima DUP-a i DUG-a u odnosu na uvjet NP-a, te da su
spremnija oponašati, kako radnje tako i verbalno, u uvjetu združenog djelovanja DUG-a i DUPa,
nego u uvjetima postojanja samo jednog djetetu usmjerenog ponašanja. Ne postoji razlika u
utjecaju DUG-a i DUP-a na uspješnost u oponašanju radnji s predmetima niti na pojavu
verbalnog oponašanja, premda je kod verbalnog oponašanja uočen nešto veći učinak DUG-a
nego DUP-a.
Dobiveni rezultati interpretirani su u kontekstu razvojnih spoznaja o ranom učenju kao
što su razumijevanje tuđih namjera, preferencije u oponašanju, segmentacija riječi i radnji te
obrada multimodalnih informacija.
Ovo je istraživanje pružilo sustavnu provjeru utjecaja djetetu usmjerenih ponašanja na
uspješnost oponašanja u dva modaliteta u djece dobi 18 mjeseci. Pridonijelo je boljem
razumijevanju okolinskih mehanizama koji doprinose socijalnom učenju u ranoj dobi. Dodatno,
pružilo je uporište za daljnja istraživanja ranih interakcija i ranog učenja, kao i, praktično, za
stvaranje sustava poučavanja za djecu tipičnog razvoja i djecu s razvojnim teškoćama rane dobi. |
| Abstract (english) | Introduction: A child's early development is largely determined by environmental influences. Through a transactional model of knowledge transmission, children adopt cultural specificities of the environment (such as language and the use of objects), and the main mediators in the transmission of knowledge about the world are adults. Imitation of others is a highly effective learning mechanism in early development. However, children do not imitate everything they see and hear, but rely on communication and social cues to help them imitate and select what is worth imitating. When adults communicate with children, they change the characteristics of their communication - both their speech and the movements they make. These behaviours are
referred to in the literature as child-directed behaviours. Child-directed behaviours are specific
to interactions with children and differ from speech and movements directed at adults. Studies
have shown that child-directed behaviours increase the child's attention and interactivity,
improve the processing of stimuli, and promote learning. However, in the literature they are
considered as two separate constructs – child-directed speech (CDS) and child-directed actions
(CDA). The mechanisms of their influence on different behaviours in children are not yet well
understood.
The literature on the influence of child-directed behaviours on imitation is sparse. There
are no studies on whether CDS and CDA have a differential impact on imitation overall and
how they specifically affect imitation in different modalities (verbal imitation vs. imitation of
actions with objects). The extent to which their synchronised use contributes to the occurrence
of imitation in the child has never been investigated.
Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate the individual effects of CDS
and CDA and their synchronised occurrence on imitation of actions with objects and the
occurrence of verbal imitation in children aged 18 months.
Methodology: The design of this study corresponds to a complex experimental design with
independent groups. The study included typically developing children aged 18 months (N=120)
randomly divided into four groups of the same age and gender. There were thirty children in
each group. All groups were presented with tasks to imitate actions objects from the Frankfurt
imitation test (Kolling & Knopf, 2015), but the tasks were presented to each group in one of
four ways: with neutral presentation (NP), presentation with CDS, presentation with CDA, and
presentation with joint CDS and CDA. The children were given a total of 14 tasks comprising
between one and six steps. The total score, which represents the sum of the correctly performed
steps in all tasks, was a measure of the imitation of actions with objects. The measure of verbal
imitation was represented by the sum of occurrences of verbal imitation during the performance
of all imitation tasks with objects.
Results: The results clearly showed that the children's success in imitating actions with objects
and the frequency of occurrence of verbal imitations differed significantly between the children
in these four task presentation conditions (p<0,01). More detailed analyses provided answers
to the specific research objectives.
The first specific aim of the study was to examine whether CDS and CDA separately
influence imitation of actions with objects and the occurrence of spontaneous verbal imitation
in relation to a situation without child-directed behaviours (neutral presentation). The results
showed that children aged 18 months correctly imitated a greater number of tasks with objects
when the tasks were presented with some form of child-directed behaviour (either CDS or
CDA), and that spontaneous verbal imitations also occurred more frequently when the tasks
were presented with any form of child-directed behaviour compared to the condition without
CDS and CDA. Large effect sizes were found, i.e. that there was a considerable influence of
child-directed behaviours on imitation compared to a neutral presentation.
The second specific aim was to investigate the extent to which the synchronised use of
CDS and CDA influences the child's imitation of actions with objects and verbal imitation. The
tests conducted revealed a significant difference in the imitation of actions with objects and the
occurrence of verbal imitation, in the sense that the children imitated more accurately in a
situation in which both child-directed behaviours were present (CDS+CDA) than in a situation
in which only one child-directed behaviour (CDS only or CDA only) was present. The effect
size was also large.
The third specific aim was to determine the possible differential influence of CDS and
CDA on the imitation of actions with objects and on the occurrence of verbal imitation. It was
predicted that the presence of CDS and CDA in task presentation would have a differential
influence on imitation of actions with objects and verbal imitation, with the presence of CDS
having a greater influence on the frequency of verbal imitation and the presence of CDA having
a greater influence on imitation of actions with objects. However, there were no differences in
the influence of CDS and CDA on the imitation of actions with objects or on the occurrence of
verbal imitation, although a slightly greater effect of CDS than of CDA was observed for verbal
imitation.
The results obtained were interpreted in the context of knowledge about early learning,
such as understanding other people's intentions, preferences in imitation, segmentation of words
and actions, and processing of multimodal information.
Conclusion: This study provided a systematic review of the influence of child-directed
behaviours on imitation in two modalities in children aged 18 months. It contributed to a better
understanding of the environmental mechanisms that contribute to social learning in young
children. In addition, it provided a basis for further research into early interactions and early
learning, and practically for the development of interaction strategies that promote learning in
children at an early age. |
