A team of scientists conducted a study to learn more about how human brains develop.
This study looked at how children learn from others, which is a big part of how humans have become successful over time.
They found that kids learn to imitate because they themselves are imitated by their parents.
More about the experiment
The researchers watched how moms and their babies interacted over several months, starting when the babies were 6 months old and ending when they were 18 months old.
They noticed that when moms were sensitive to their babies and imitated them often, the babies got really good at imitating others by the time they were 18 months old.
When parents and kids imitate each other, it's like a way of talking without words.
Parents pay attention to what their baby is doing and copy it, and the baby does the same.
This creates a special connection between what the baby feels and does and what it sees.
This connection helps the baby learn lots of things, like how to use objects, wave hello, and even how to talk.
Why it's important
So, kids are fantastic imitators, and it all starts with their parents imitating them.
This ability to imitate is crucial for kids to learn and become a part of their culture.
It's like a big cycle of learning from each other that has helped humans evolve and pass down knowledge from one generation to the next.
