（这篇文章介绍了模仿对于人际互动、学习和人类文明演进的重要作用。尤其是文中关于母婴互动研究的介绍，对于年轻父母的育儿有较好的借鉴和帮助——笔者注）
我们通过数千年积累的知识认识世界。立于伟人之肩，便不必经历无尽的试错，正如车轮无需重新发明便可驱动车辆前行。然而，这种向他人学习的能力从何而来？
洛约拉马利蒙特大学教授马库斯·保卢斯主导的一项研究表明，这种能力植根于人类最早的童年阶段。“人们通常认为儿童的模仿能力是与生俱来的，但我们的观察发现，儿童之所以模仿，是因为他们自己首先被照料者所模仿。这种互动促成了知识的文化传递，通过世代的努力，最终推动了人类的发展。”保卢斯解释道。
研究中，保卢斯团队记录了多对母亲与孩子数月间的互动。婴儿首次来到实验室时仅6个月大，最后一次参与观察时已18个月。在各类游戏情境中，研究者分析了母婴间的互动与模仿行为。长期数据显示：母亲与6个月大婴儿互动时越敏锐、模仿婴儿的频率越高，孩子在18个月时的综合能力就越强。
保卢斯指出，相互模仿是知识传递的基石。儿童通过这一过程成功习得多种技能，包括物品使用、手势表达及语言获取。“这种互动是学习的核心，最终促成了人类在进化上的成功。”他补充道。
“文化学习是人类进化的重要部分，它源于对他人的模仿——尤其是婴幼儿时期对照料者的模仿。”保卢斯总结，“借此，我们相互学习，将知识传递给下一代，使得许多行为与技术无需被反复重新创造。”
附：英文原文
We learn about the world through the knowledge accumulated over thousands of years.Standing on the shoulders of great men，we don’t have to experience endless trial and error，just as the wheels do not have to be reinvented each time to run a car. But where does our ability to learn from others come from?
A study led by Markus Paulus，professor at Loyola Marymount University，shows that the ability has its roots in earliest childhood.“It’s generally assumed thatchildren’s ability to imitate is inborn，but according to our observation，children imitate because they themselves are imitated by caregivers.This interaction enables a cultural transfer of knowledge，which，through generations’ efforts，consequently leads to the development of human beings，” says Markus Paulus.
In this research，Paulus recorded the interaction between mother and child over several months.The babies came into the lab for the first time at the age of 6 months，while their final visit was when they were 18 months old.As they engaged in various play situations，the interactions and imitations of mother and child were analyzed.The long-term study showed that the more sensitive a mother was in her interactions with her six-month-old child and the more often she imitated the baby，the greater the child’s overall ability was at the age of 18 months.
Paulus’ research shows that mutual imitation is the keystone of knowledge transfer，through which children successfully learn various skills，such as how to use objects，waving and acquisition of language.“This interaction is the nucleusof learning and，finally，gives rise to evolutionary success of human，” says Paulus.
“Cultural learning is an essential part of human evolution，and it is rooted inthe imitation of others，particularly our caregivers during our earliest childhood，” says Paulus.“Through this，we learn from each other and pass on knowledge to the next generation，so certain actions or techniques do not have to be constantly invented again.”
