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Young children not only need to learn how to perform isolated actions, but also coordinated actions such as using a knife and fork. This paper reports an experiment comparing children’s tendency to imitate multiple, coordinated actions following demonstration by a single model acting bimanually (Bimanual Observation condition), two models performing the same actions jointly with one performing each hand action (Joint Observation condition) and a condition in which the child actively takes part in the joint action demonstration by performing one role in coordination with a partner (Joint Action condition). When children were subsequently left alone to perform the task independently, they were more likely to imitate both coordinated actions in the two observation conditions than in the Joint Action condition, with no difference between performance in Bimanual and Joint Observation conditions. It is argued that this is due to children being more able to form a global representation of both actions and the relations between the two when observing from a distance than when actively involved in the task, when self-other distinction is required to keep the two roles apart and avoid interference from the other.

幼儿不仅需要学习如何完成孤立动作，还需掌握诸如使用刀叉这类协同动作。本文报道了一项对比实验，旨在考察儿童在三种演示情境下模仿多项协同动作的倾向：其一为单示范者以双手完成动作的双手观察（Bimanual Observation）条件；其二为两名示范者协同完成动作、各自负责单一手部动作的联合观察（Joint Observation）条件；其三为儿童主动参与联合动作演示，与搭档配合完成其中一个角色的联合行动（Joint Action）条件。当后续让儿童独立完成该任务时，相较于联合行动条件，两种观察条件下的儿童更大概率会模仿两项协同动作，且双手观察条件与联合观察条件的表现并无显著差异。研究认为，这是因为相较于主动参与任务时需区分自我与他人，以厘清两个角色、避免彼此干扰的情况，儿童在远距离观察时更易形成两项动作及其相互关系的整体表征。