The Relation Between Goal‐Predictive Gaze Behavior and Imitation—A Live Eye‐Tracking Study in 12‐Month‐Olds

Children learn from others by imitating observed behavior. According to some theorists, to imitate an agent's action, infants need to identify the agent's action goal. To test this assumption, goal‐predictive gaze shifts of 104 German 12‐month‐olds (57 female) were measured using live eye‐tracking. These goal‐predictive gaze shifts were related to their imitation of an action performed by a live model. This relationship was controlled for in terms of cognitive developmental status. We used one task of the imitation battery FIT 12 and analyzed the infants' imitation and goal‐predictive gaze shifts. The infants showed goal‐predictive gaze shifts to actions presented at a realistic speed. Furthermore, imitation was related to their goal‐predictive gaze shifts. This association was partially explained by cognitive‐developmental status, which should be considered an important factor in the development of imitation.