Age-based imitation bias throughout development, during daily interactions, and across cultures

Our project will investigate whether social and cognitive development, social setting, and cultural values mediate the expression of age- based imitation bias. We will compare the propensities of children aged 3 to 17 years to imitate peers versus adults using instrumental and conventional experimental tasks. We will conduct naturalistic observations to understand how peer and adult availability and pedagogical interactions enable and constrain age-based bias. We will collect data among Congolese BaYaka foragers, Congolese Bandongo fisher-farmers, Chinese Americans, and Scots. These communities vary in their cultural emphasis on autonomy/conformity, and the normativity of peer/adult socialization, which may affect children's preference for learning from adults over peers.