"...stick out your tongue at a newborn, and the infant is likely to stick its out in response."The Slate article where I found this quote isn't about newborn behavior per se. But I still find the quote fascinating.
What I find fascinating is that the newborn has some ability to translate recognized behavior into self behavior. I don't mean that the infant has some internal conversation... "Hey, he's sticking his tongue out at me, I have a tongue too don't I?, I should return that gesture, maybe there'll be milk in it for me..."
The child is prelinguistic. That's what fascinates me, the mimicking behavior outside the realm of language. The mysterious "they" say that the majority of communication is non-verbal. Makes me wonder if sometimes language doesn't hinder more than help.
Makes me also wonder what goes on in the imagination of the child.
