[Lifestayle] Mirror neurons or how children learn by imitation

[WilkerCSBD]

Mirror neurons are a type of nerve cells responsible for us to imitate some behaviors that other people are doing in front of us, such as yawning, scratching or coughing. According to the psychologist Sara Tarrés, they are attributed the particularity of activating those same areas of our brain that would be activated if we were actually performing the behavior just by the mere fact of observing it in a third person. We can see them in operation in the first months of life when a baby imitates some facial expressions or gestures of her mother, for example when she sticks her tongue out as cuteness. This characteristic explains learning by imitation, one of the different learning mechanisms that humans use. Studies conclude that lying is synonymous with being smart.

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"But the function of mirror neurons does not stop there, and it is also these neurons that allow us to understand the intentions and emotions of third parties, which is why they are called the neurons of empathy," says the psychologist. They were discovered by a group of Italian researchers from the University of Parma, led by Giacomo Rizzolatti, in 1996, when they were studying a group of macaques. At first the discoveries were linked exclusively to motor activities, but many other subsequent investigations have been able to determine the involvement of these neurons in other functions or skills such as social learning (imitation) and empathy. Sara Tarrés points out that the importance lies precisely in the role they fulfill in the social learning processes, “allowing to develop the ability to understand others, imitate them and learn from them without the need to invest time and effort by testing it over and over again actions to obtain the desired result. Imitation is a fast and effective learning mechanism that avoids trying over and over again ”.

Ángela Pulido Flores is a psychologist specializing in child psychology and early care, from the Idealoga cooperative: “These neurons are inhibited or excited (turned on or off) in the presence of emotions. Its function is very curious, when people perceive emotions in others, we get them through these neurons. This explains, for example, the reasons why we are more attracted to happy and funny people in groups, since we would be infected with their emotion through these neurons. In the same way, there are currently several studies that show that observing people who are under stress also generates stress in ourselves and as a consequence we produce cortisol (the stress hormone) in ourselves ”.

Sata Tarrés continues: “Psychologists and neuroscientists affirm that young children learn basically by two mechanisms: by observation (imitation) and by trial and error. However, the first mechanism is more effective than the second, since it is not necessary to test anything, just observe it. Mirror neurons are already in charge of capturing what the other feels by doing so without having to experience it and decipher whether it is good for us or not ”. Hence, psychologists and teachers insist on the message that children learn more by what they see doing than by what they are told to do. Tarrés affirms that mirror neurons rehearse in the brains of our children, without us being aware of it, many of the behaviors that we carry out throughout the day, they register it to put them into operation in similar situations, and it is not necessary that imitate us immediately. “It is clear that it is useless to tell a child not to get angry if we say it to him angry, or not to yell at him, or to say that he has to see the positive side of things when we do not stop complaining about everything and everything ”.

Idealoga's psychologist tells us about Bandura's theory of cognitive social learning, according to which, “we acquire most of our social behaviors by watching others perform them. Why? It is a resource that comes from the natural selection system itself, which serves to integrate people into a social system. The idea is that children learn patterns of interaction from other members of their species and thus can better integrate through the repetition of models of other people who are already in the group ”. Ángela Pulido points out that the model serves not only to acquire new socially desirable behaviors, but also to inhibit behaviors that are not. “For example, a child with a year and a half learns that when entering a place you have to wave or say good morning, because we see our parents do it. Many people want their sons and daughters to brush their teeth after eating. It is much more effective for the child to see that adults brush their teeth on a regular basis, than to repeat them every day that they do it. The problem is that many times we adults fall, unconsciously, in the lack of coherence. Many times we are more demanding with others (including children) than with ourselves and ourselves ”, says psychologist Ángela Pulido.

Children basically imitate their significant others, with whom they feel attached and secure. Sara Tarrés points out that different authors and research carried out have shown that a young child can only learn if he feels loved, pampered and protected: “This is because we look for models that we trust and admire, but also because of the optimization mechanism of resources conferred by imitation ”. We look, we observe, we learn, not only the good also the bad. Hence the need to offer appropriate role models in all areas: at home, at school and in the media.

As she explains in My Exposed Emotions. Guide and emotional notebook for family work (Editorial Salvatella): “empathy and active listening are two essential social skills to live in a respectful and tolerant society that is committed to solidarity, cooperation, support and companionship as opposed to individualism and the competitiveness to which our children are exposed every day. " Children need parents who take care of them, who have time to listen to them, to look at them, to accompany and guide them, but also to allow them to be autonomous and make mistakes without fear, learning to be responsible for both their successes and their mistakes.