Goal saliency and verbal information influence the imitation of movements and goals in 20-to 22-month-old toddlers

Previous research has suggested that infants and toddlers prioritize the imitation of goals over movements, but recent evidence revealed a more flexible pattern of imitation that depended on the visual saliency or efficiency of movements and goals. This study investigated how visual saliency of action goals alongside verbal information influences toddlers' action processing and imitation. Twenty- to 22-month-old toddlers observed a toy animal being moved in a particular style toward one of two goals. Goals were either two-dimensional drawings or three-dimensional objects. Before the demonstration, the experimenter provided verbal information about the movement style for one group of toddlers, and about the goal for the other group. Toddlers' imitation was influenced by goal saliency, verbal information, and an interplay of these factors. Toddlers preferred to imitate the goal over the movement in the 3D condition, and the movement over the goal in the 2D condition, revealing that goal saliency influenced imitation preferences. The effect of verbal cues depended on the order of saliency conditions. Verbal cues impacted imitation only in toddlers who participated in the 2D trials first, indicating that toddlers might be especially susceptible to verbal cues when initial visual information is less salient.