Intermodal mapping
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Typically researched in infants, intermodal mapping refers to the ability to gather information about a particular stimulus by integrating multiple senses.[1] Researched by American psychologists Andrew N. Meltzoff and M. Keith Moore, this capability plays an underlying part in neonatal imitation (infant capacity to model observable adult behavior).[2]
Modern investigation into the field of neonatal imitation and intermodal modeling began with Meltzoff and Moore's seminal study in 1977, investigating 12 to 21-day-old infants and their ability to replicate adults' facial and manual gestures.[3] They acknowledge opposing voices who argues replication of observed behaviors is "merely arousal of oral activity," with the evidence of imitation of three facial gestures and one manual gesture.[3]
The history of the intermodal model began when Meltzoff and Moore defined it as an innate human ability, essential to imitation. They hypothesized intermodal mapping acted as a sequence in which an infant observes an adult's facial acts and creates a "supramodal" framework. With proprioceptive feedback, an infant can then distinguish whether their actions are equivalent to those they see.[2] Therefore, stimuli are not necessarily restricted to a singular sense, but allow them to exist universally in the brain and integrate in ways to produce complex outcomes. This is illustrated specifically in how visual and proprioceptive systems (senses) integrate to aid imitation. Meltzoff and Moore's studies typically mirror the Headturn Preference Procedure (HPP) as they observe both behavior in relation to response time in infants.
Criticism
Criticisms of this approach typically question the innate, or inborn, claims Meltzoff and Moore make. Overall, researchers doubt the possibility that infants have the inherent ability to observe and create their own sequence of movements producing the same "configurations" or actions of the adults they're modeling.[4] In addition, critics question how the link between visual input and motor faculties can be made so early in the infant's development.[4]