Cultural differences in the imitation and transmission of inefficient actions

- One or three models had only an inefficient tool for a task available to them.
- Children had both the inefficient tool and a more efficient alternative available.
- Cultural differences emerged in conformity in imitation and weighing rationality.
- Cultural differences were also found in the transmission of inefficient actions.
- Chinese-Americans copied and taught with the tool used by a consensus more often.

Across two studies, we explored cultural differences in children's imitation and transmission of inefficient actions. Chinese American and Caucasian American preschoolers (N = 115) viewed either one or three models using two inefficient tools to perform two different tasks. In the video, when the model(s) performed the task, only the inefficient tool was available; thus, their choice to use that tool could be considered rational. Next, children were invited to complete the task with either the inefficient tool or an efficient alternative. Whereas the two cultural groups imitated a single model at similar rates, Chinese American children imitated significantly more than Caucasian American children after viewing a consensus. Similar results were found when exploring differences in information transmission. The Chinese American children were significantly more likely than their Caucasian American peers to instruct using an inefficient tool when they had initially viewed a consensus demonstrate it. We discuss these findings with respect to differences in children's use of social versus task-specific cues for learning and teaching.