Imitation in initial phases of the development has been studied under different theoretical perspectives that gave differentiated importance and interpretation for role of this process on development. This study's assumption is that the understanding of early imitation is extremely relevant from the epistemological and theoretical point of view. Based on this assumption, the history of imitation studies is briefly described before presenting a review and discussion of the main empirical evidences on early imitation. Theoretical explanations and their associated falsified hypotheses are analyzed. Finally, the relation between the evidences about early imitation and perceptual development, and the origins of representation, and their implications for explanations of early development are discussed.
Imitation; Early development; Empirical evidences