[Source: Science Daily]

People are constantly learning from others without even being aware of it. Social learning avoids laborious trial and error; the wheel does not have to be reinvented each time. But where does this ability come from, which forms the basis of cultural learning and consequently for the evolutionary success of the human species?

A study led by Professor Markus Paulus, Chair of Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology at LMU, demonstrates that the ability has its roots in earliest childhood. “Children acquire their ability to imitate because they themselves are imitated by their caregivers,” says Markus Paulus.

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