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A powerful longitudinal study has failed to find any evidence that newborn babies can imitate facial gestures, hand movements or vocalisations. After 40 years of uncertainty, these findings indicate that humans learn to imitate; this capacity is not inborn.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.060

Type

Journal article

Journal

Curr Biol

Publication Date

23/05/2016

Volume

26

Pages

R412 - R414

Keywords

Gestures, Hand, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Infant, Newborn, Longitudinal Studies, Movement