A classic study on this
Understanding the intentions of others: Re-enactment of intended acts by 18-month-old children.
Andrew N. Meltzoff · 1995 · Developmental Psychology
- Children
- About 100 toddlers
- Where
- A lab in Seattle, United States
- Ages
- 18 months
- How
- Researchers tested each toddler once in a lab
- What it found
- Toddlers who only saw an adult try and fail to do something with a toy did the full action themselves about as often as toddlers who saw it done. They did this far less after watching a machine.
- Limits
- Tests one age only, so it shows what 18-month-olds can do, not when children start.