Using magnetoencephalography, a non-invasive technique, neuroscientists have studied baby brain activity and have found a link between the listening and speaking areas of the brain in newborns, 6-month and one-year old infants.
An infant is all eyes watching an adult showing him how to pull apart a small plastic dumbbell in an example of how children learn by imitation.
A 3-year-old girl learns the unusual action of pushing a button with her thumb by first watching an adult.
Infants learn about the world and how to do things from watching and imitating. Here a young girl watches an adult put a stick into a black box and then happily duplicates the act.
Research has shown that American babies as young as nine months can learn the sounds of Mandarin face to face with a tutor…
…however, when the same information is shown on television infants do not learn, showing that there is an important social element in learning.
Imitation is a good example of the principle that learning is social. Here an 18-month-old girl watches how a toy can be taken apart and then performs the action herslef.
The images below may be used to illustrate the news release about the new science of learning that researchers from the 天美影视传媒 and the University of California, San Diego reported on in the July 17, 2009 edition of Science.