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A model of the emergence of early imitation development based on predictability preference

This article presents a mechanism for the early development of imitation through a simulation of infant-caregiver interaction. A model was created to acquire a body mapping (a mapping from observed body motions to motor commands), which is necessary for imitation, while discriminating self-motion from the motion of the other. The simulation results show that the development of a body mapping depends on a predictability preference (a function of how an agent decides regarding its options of ‘what to imitate’). The simulated infants are able to develop the components of a healthy body mapping in order, that is, relating self motion first, followed by an understanding of others' motions, which is supported by psychological studies. This order of development emerges spontaneously without the need for any explicit mechanism or any partitioning of the interaction. These results suggest that this predictability preference is an important factor in infant imitation development.