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. 2016 Sep-Oct;21(5):536-559.
doi: 10.1111/infa.12132. Epub 2016 Feb 29.

Exploring links among imitation, mental development, and temperament

Susan K Fenstermacher  1 , Kimberly J Saudino  2
Affiliations

Exploring links among imitation, mental development, and temperament

Susan K Fenstermacher et al. Infancy. 2016 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Links among imitation, performance on a standardized test of intellectual development, and laboratory-assessed temperament were explored in 311 24-month old twin pairs. Moderate phenotypic associations were found between imitation, mental development, and temperament dimensions of Affect/Extraversion and Task Orientation. Covariance between imitation and mental development reflected genetic and shared environmental influences, whereas associations between imitation and temperament reflected genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences. Genetic factors linking imitation and temperament were the same as those linking temperament and mental development. Nonetheless, approximately 62% of total genetic variance on imitation was independent of genetic influences on mental development and temperament, suggesting that young children's imitation is not simply an index of general cognitive ability or dispositional style but has many underlying genetic influences that are unique.

Keywords: BEHAVIOR GENETICS; IMITATION; MENTAL DEVELOPMENT; TEMPERAMENT; TWINS.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distributions of individual components of composite imitation score.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of composite elicited imitation scores.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cholesky model decomposing the genetic and environmental covariance between MDI, Task Orientation, Affect/Extraversion, and elicited imitation. The four rectangles represent the phenotypic variances of each variable. The circles represent latent additive genetic (A), shared environmental (C), and nonshared environmental (E) factors. The single-headed arrows extending from each of the A, C, and E factors represent partial regressions indicating the influence of the latent variable on the phenotype. The paths leading from MDI, Affect/Extraversion, and Task Orientation to elicited imitation represent genetic and environmental covariance between elicited imitation, mental development, and temperament, whereas the unique factors A1, C1, and E1 represent unique genetic or environmental influences on elicited imitation that are independent of temperament or mental development.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Additive genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental parameter estimates (and 95% confidence intervals) for the full quadrivariate Cholesky model. Significant parameter estimates are depicted in bold.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Additive genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental parameter estimates (and 95% confidence intervals) from the best-fitting quadrivariate Cholesky model.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to the phenotypic correlations between variables.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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