Infants’ imitation has been widely studied in developmental psychology. However, scholars severely disagree on a clear definition of imitation. This article considers two major approaches to a definition of imitation: one approach which defines imitation as a particular mechanism of infants’ behavior (intention-based definition); and one approach which defines imitation at a behavioral level (behavior-based definition). Problematic consequences of an intention-based definition of imitation are discussed and, as a consequence, a behavior-based definition is defended.
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