The purpose of this review was twofold: (1) to examine how copy behaviors (CB) have been studied in mother-infant natural interactions from 0 to 24 months, and (2) to determine to what extent they can be considered co-regulation processes between both members of the dyad. To do this, 36 studies published between 1975 and 2021 were systematically examined, classified and discussed. The analyzed evidence showed that CB in spontaneous mother-infant interactions have been examined under different perspectives, that such behaviors might be differentially classified as distinct modes of copying according to their traits and, lastly, that CB operate as social facilitators that foster the co-regulation of both affects and behaviors and direct mothers and infants, most of the times, towards a mutual sense of interpersonal matching that adds quality to their interactions.
Keywords: Co-regulation; Copy behaviors; Dyadic interaction; Imitation; Mother-infant interaction.
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