Assisted imitation: first steps in the seed model of language development

In this article, I present the theoretical and empirical grounding for the SEED (situated, culturally embodied, emergent, distributed) model of early language development. A fundamental prerequisite to the emergence of language behavior/communication is a hands-on, active understanding of everyday events ( Lock and Zukow-Goldring, 2010, Rizzolatti and Arbib, 1998 and Zukow, 1989). At the heart of this understanding is the discovery that the self and others are alike. Interaction with caregivers, especially during assisted imitation, underlies these accomplishments ( Arbib, 2007 and Zukow-Goldring, 2006). In these communicative settings, caregivers educate infants’ attention (Gibson, 1979) by directing them to notice the dynamically-coupled relation between affordances (opportunities for action) in the environment and their own bodily abilities (effectivities) as they achieve some goal. The situated, culturally embodied, emergent, and distributed nature of language behavior germinates and takes root during social interaction, unfolding and regenerating throughout the lifetime as the dynamically-coupled perceiving-and-acting of one person continuously informs that of the other ( Zukow-Goldring, 2006).