Generalized imitation in preschool boys.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which the generalized motor imitation paradigm developed by Baer and Deguchi (1985) applies to the vocal imitation of preschool boys. Five normally developing male preschool children between 3 and 5 years of age served as subjects. We presented the children with four choices: Matching, Nonmatching, Listening, and Waiting. Once we established a baseline preference measure, we introduced reinforcement of imitation for a different vocal response (color naming). The effect of this manipulation was to increase the preference for matching for three of the five children. The results are consistent with the conditioned-reinforcement hypothesis regarding generalized imitation. They are also consistent with previous research showing that not all children prefer to imitate following direct reinforcement of other imitative behavior.

Generalized vocal imitation in infants.

Effects of modeling and response-contingent social praise on the vocal imitation of three 9- to 13-month-old infants were analyzed. Three infants and parents participated in 2 to 4 experimental sessions a week for 2 to 4 months. During each 20-min-long session, the parent presented vocal models for the infant to imitate. During the model-alone condition, no social praise was programmed for infant imitation. During the model-and-praise condition, social praise was provided by the parent for infant imitation on training trials, but not probe trials. All three infants showed systematic increases in matching during training trials following the introduction of the model-and-praise condition. Although matching during probe trials was not directly reinforced, probe-trial responding increased systematically with training-trial responding. Furthermore, non-matching infant vocalizations did not increase systematically with the introduction of the model-and-praise procedure. Together these findings provide a demonstration of generalized vocal imitation in infants, a population in which it had not previously been shown to occur.

The history of imitation in learning theory: the language acquisition process.

The concept of imitation has undergone different analyses in the hands of different learning theorists throughout the history of psychology. From Thorndike's connectionism to Pavlov's classical conditioning, Hull's monistic theory, Mowrer's two-factor theory, and Skinner's operant theory, there have been several divergent accounts of the conditions that produce imitation and the conditions under which imitation itself may facilitate language acquisition. In tracing the roots of the concept of imitation in the history of learning theory, the authors conclude that generalized imitation, as defined and analyzed by operant learning theorists, is a sufficiently robust formulation of learned imitation to facilitate a behavior-analytic account of first-language acquisition.

Generalized imitation in infants.

Effects of modeling and contingent praise on infant's motor response topographies were experimentally analyzed. Three 10-month-old male infants and their mothers participated in 20-min. experimental sessions two to four times a week for 2 to 7 months. During each session a mother presented her infant with 15 toys randomly selected from a pool of 45. The infant was allowed to play with each toy for 1 min. During treatment the mother modeled prescribed responses with each toy, and during 10 training trials per session, she praised her infant if he emitted topographically similar responses. Interspersed among training trials were five probe trials for which praise was seldom available. All three infants showed systematic increases in the targeted training and probe response topographies following the introduction of the modeling and praise treatment procedure. Thus, responding during probes demonstrated generalized imitation with infants, a new and developmentally important population.