Overimitation grows with the ability to model others’ minds

Evidence

As children grow in their cognitive sophistication, they become better able to model the minds of others. Sure, they can see—in the case of the transparent cube—that the adult is opening a latch that has no effect. But they realize that the adult can see that too! If the adult can see that what they’re doing has no apparent affect, but they still do it anyway, there must be a reason. Therefore, even if we can’t figure out what that reason is, we’d better do that “silly” thing too. — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 950

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 950
• XREF: connects to: Toddlers distinguish deliberate choices from forced actions when imitating — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 948; Human children overimitate even when they see actions are useless — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 943; AI interactions can influence human emotional responses and behaviors. — Joanna Stern, I Am Not a Robot- My Year Using AI to…, 583 (+2 more)

Related

• Human children overimitate even when they see actions are useless (similarity 0.88)
• Toddlers distinguish deliberate choices from forced actions when imitating (similarity 0.86)
• Children, unlike chimps, overimitate even when causality is transparent (similarity 0.80)
• Confident models and accurate imitation strengthen children’s normative judgments. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• AI interactions can influence human emotional responses and behaviors. #expands (0.35) — Joanna Stern, I Am Not a Robot- My Year Using AI to…, 583