| Summary: | Children are exceptional, even ‘super’ imitators, but comparatively poor independent problem-solvers or innovators. However, human cultural evolution depends on both imitation and innovation. Here we explored children’s ability to generate a solution to a novel problem by imitating two different action sequences demonstrated by two different models or imitation by combination, which we refer as summative imitation. Children (N = 181) from 3-5 years of age and across three experiments were tested in a baseline condition or in one of six demonstration conditions, varying in the number of models and opening techniques demonstrated. More than 75% of children evidenced summative imitation, opening both compartments and retrieving the reward hidden in each. Generally, learning different actions from two different models was as good (and in some cases, better) than learning from one model, but the underlying representations appear to be the same in both demonstration conditions. These results show that summative imitation not only facilitates imitation learning but can also result in new solutions to problems, an essential feature of innovation and cumulative culture.
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