Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults
Imitation of the successful choices of others is a simple and superficially attractive learning rule. It has been shown to be an important driving force for the strategic behavior of (young) adults. In this study we examine whether imitation is prevalent in the behavior of children aged between 8 an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-03-01
|
| Series: | Games |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/1/11 |
| _version_ | 1819230514183143424 |
|---|---|
| author | Jose Apesteguia Steffen Huck Jörg Oechssler Elke Weidenholzer Simon Weidenholzer |
| author_facet | Jose Apesteguia Steffen Huck Jörg Oechssler Elke Weidenholzer Simon Weidenholzer |
| author_sort | Jose Apesteguia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Imitation of the successful choices of others is a simple and superficially attractive learning rule. It has been shown to be an important driving force for the strategic behavior of (young) adults. In this study we examine whether imitation is prevalent in the behavior of children aged between 8 and 10. Surprisingly, we find that imitation seems to be cognitively demanding. Most children in this age group ignore information about others, foregoing substantial learning opportunities. While this seems to contradict much of the literature in the field of psychology, we argue that success-based imitation of peers may be harder for children to perform than non-success-based imitation of adults. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:30:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c26b62751d5f42c48b91d6efc29f98ae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:30:16Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Games |
| spelling | doaj.art-c26b62751d5f42c48b91d6efc29f98ae2022-12-21T17:48:49ZengMDPI AGGames2073-43362018-03-01911110.3390/g9010011g9010011Imitation of Peers in Children and AdultsJose Apesteguia0Steffen Huck1Jörg Oechssler2Elke Weidenholzer3Simon Weidenholzer4ICREA, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE, 08005 Barcelona, SpainWZB Berlin Social Science Center, 10785 Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Economics, University of Heidelberg, 69115 Heidelberg, GermanyDepartment of Economics, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UKDepartment of Economics, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UKImitation of the successful choices of others is a simple and superficially attractive learning rule. It has been shown to be an important driving force for the strategic behavior of (young) adults. In this study we examine whether imitation is prevalent in the behavior of children aged between 8 and 10. Surprisingly, we find that imitation seems to be cognitively demanding. Most children in this age group ignore information about others, foregoing substantial learning opportunities. While this seems to contradict much of the literature in the field of psychology, we argue that success-based imitation of peers may be harder for children to perform than non-success-based imitation of adults.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/1/11childrenimitation learningsuccess-based imitationpeer imitation |
| spellingShingle | Jose Apesteguia Steffen Huck Jörg Oechssler Elke Weidenholzer Simon Weidenholzer Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults Games children imitation learning success-based imitation peer imitation |
| title | Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults |
| title_full | Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults |
| title_fullStr | Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults |
| title_short | Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults |
| title_sort | imitation of peers in children and adults |
| topic | children imitation learning success-based imitation peer imitation |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/1/11 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joseapesteguia imitationofpeersinchildrenandadults AT steffenhuck imitationofpeersinchildrenandadults AT jorgoechssler imitationofpeersinchildrenandadults AT elkeweidenholzer imitationofpeersinchildrenandadults AT simonweidenholzer imitationofpeersinchildrenandadults |