The development of generalized imitation within topographically determined boundaries

A multiple baseline technique was employed to examine the experimental development of an imitative repertoire within preselected topographical boundaries. Four severely retarded children, initially nonimitative, were individually trained to imitate a number of motor and vocal responses by shaping and fading procedures. Other untrained responses (probes) were demonstrated to the subjects systematically throughout the ongoing training. Training responses were divided into three topographical types: small motor, large motor, and short vocal responses. Probe responses were divided into four topographical types: small motor, large motor, short vocal, and long vocal responses. Following a multiple baseline format, sequential training of the first three types was begun at different temporal periods of the study; unreinforced imitative generalization was continually measured by the probes. Generalized imitation was observed in each subject (untrained responses were imitated even though unreinforced); but this generalization was restricted to the topographical type of imitation currently receiving training or having previously received training.     

GENERALIZED IMITATION AND RESPONSE-CLASS FORMATION IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

An experimental analysis of imitation was conducted to examine the influence of response topography on generalization of imitation across three response types. Four children with autism were presented with both reinforced training trials and nonreinforced probe trials of models from vocal, toy-play, and pantomime response types. The probe trials were used to examine generalization within each response type. A multiple baseline design was used to analyze percentage of matching and nonmatching responses to models across response types. This study, the first to analyze imitative response classes in children with autism, showed that imitation generalized from reinforced training models to nonreinforced probe models within a response type, but it did not generalize across response types. Thus, functional response classes determined by topographical boundaries were exhibited within generalized imitation.     

A comparison of imitation strategies in observational learning of action patterns

The effects of different arrangements of demonstration and imitation of modeled actions on the learning of the 26 handshapes of the American manual alphabet were investigated. A concurrent group (N =16), which imitated handshapes concurrently with their demonstration, was compared with a delayed group (N = 16), which delayed imitation until 3 handshapes had been displayed, and with a combination group (N = 16), which practiced under a combination of concurrent conditions early in acquisition and delayed conditions later in acquisition. Following acquisition, learning was assessed by means of immediate and long-term recall and recognition tests. The delayed group was superior to the concurrent group in long-term serial recall and in immediate and long-term recognition of 3-letter sequences (in nonserial order); the performance of the combination group was between those of the delayed and concurrent groups. Therefore, delaying imitation in acquisition required subjects to expend more cognitive effort to retain and produce handshapes when requested than did concurrent imitation. This was beneficial to development of task knowledge that could be relied on for postacquisition recall and recognition of handshapes.     

Effects of serial and concurrent training on receptive identification tasks: A Systematic replication

The current study compared the use of serial and concurrent methods to train multiple exemplars when teaching receptive language skills, providing a systematic replication of Wunderlich, Vollmer, Donaldson, and Phillips (2014). Five preschoolers diagnosed with developmental delays or autism spectrum disorders were taught to receptively identify letters or letter sounds. Subjects learned the target stimuli slightly faster in concurrent training and a high degree of generalization was obtained following both methods of training, indicating that both the serial and concurrent methods of training are efficient and effective instructional procedures.     

Behavioral treatment of children with phonological disorder: the efficacy of vocal imitation and sufficient-response-exemplar training

This study examined whether sufficient-response-exemplar training of vocal imitation would result in improved articulation in children with phonological disorder, and whether improved articulation established in the context of vocal imitation would transfer to other verbal classes such as object naming and conversational speech. Participant 1 was 6 years old and attended first grade in a regular public school. Participant 2 was 5 years 4 months old and attended a public kindergarten. Both participants had normal hearing and no additional handicaps. A multiple baseline design across behaviors (target sounds or blends) was employed to examine whether the vocal imitation training resulted in improved articulation. Results showed that both participants improved articulation once training was implemented, and that the improved articulation transferred from vocal imitation to more natural speech such as object naming and conversational speech. Improvement established during training was maintained posttraining and at a 6-month follow-up.     

The impact of specific prior experiences on infants' extension of animal properties

We examined the influence of prior exposure to specific animal properties on 15-month-old infants' inductive generalization. Using picture books, 29 infants were trained on properties linked in a congruent or incongruent manner with four animal categories. A generalized imitation task was then administered to assess patterns of property extension for two of the trained properties as well as two untrained properties aligned with the training categories. Prior exposure to particular category-property relations was shown to impact infants' property extensions in that infants selected a novel member of the training category for their imitation. For untrained properties, infants selected equally between novel members of the training and non-training categories. The findings highlight the dynamic nature of inductive processes in infancy.     

Comprehension,selective imitation,and the CIP hypothesis

The role of comprehension training in the selective imitation of indirect-direct object sentences was assessed for six preschool children. A modeling condition resulted in normal usage of indirect-direct object sentences for five of six subjects, but reversed usage was not obtained when modeling was reversed. Subsequent receptive comprehension training on normal and reversed forms of indirect-direct object sentences resulted in generalization to the productive mode. These results were related to an hypothesis about language acquisition in which selective imitation is a function of comprehension.     

Training compliance control yields improved drawing in 5–11 year old children with motor difficulties

There are a large number of children with motor difficulties including those that have difficulty producing movements qualitatively well enough to improve in perceptuo-motor learning without intervention. We have developed a training method that supports active movement generation to allow improvement in a 3D tracing task requiring good compliance control. Previously, we tested a limited age range of children and found that training improved performance on the 3D tracing task and that the training transferred to a 2D drawing test. In the present study, school children (5–11 years old) with motor difficulties were trained in the 3D tracing task and transfer to a 2D drawing task was tested. We used a cross-over design where half of the children received training on the 3D tracing task during the first training period and the other half of the children received training during the second training period. Given previous results, we predicted that younger children would initially show reduced performance relative to the older children, and that performance at all ages would improve with training. We also predicted that training would transfer to the 2D drawing task. However, the pre-training performance of both younger and older children was equally poor. Nevertheless, post-training performance on the 3D task was dramatically improved for both age groups and the training transferred to the 2D drawing task. Overall, this work contributes to a growing body of literature that demonstrates relatively preserved motor learning in children with motor difficulties and further demonstrates the importance of games in therapeutic interventions.     

Episodic memory reflected in printed word naming

Although memory is typically measured by recall or recognition, it is also expressed by fluent or stylized task performance. In this experiment, 12 volunteers (calledspeakers) completed four experimental stages over a 2-week period. They read printed words aloud in two sessions, before and after exposure to auditory training tokens. They later completed a recognition memory test, discriminating old from new words. Groups ofperceptual judges assessed the speakers vocal imitation by comparing utterances recorded before and after training and deciding which sounded like “better imitations” of the training tokens. The data showed clear evidence of postexposure imitation, with systematic effects that preclude strategic explanations. The contents of episodic memory were reflected by participants speaking style while they were reading aloud. Together, the imitation and recognition data suggest that memory preserves detailed traces of spoken words; those traces were apparently activated when participants later read the same words in the same context.     

TRANSFER TRAINING METHOD: ITS INFLUENCE ON SKILL GENERALIZATION, SKILL REPETITION, AND PERFORMANCE LEVEL

This study contrasted goal setting and self-management training designs for their effectiveness in facilitating transfer of training to a novel task. Behavioral measures of performance were used to assess transfer in terms of skill generalization, skill repetition and overall performance level. Skill generalization was more limited among the goal-setting trainees as compared to the self-management trainees. While goal-setting trainees generalized fewer skills to the novel task context, these skills tended to be used more repeatedly. In contrast, self-management trainees exhibited higher rates of skill generalization and higher overall performance levels on the transfer task, even after the effects of outcome goal level were controlled. Implications are discussed for future research on training transfer.     

A critical path generalization of the additive factor method: Analysis of a stroop task

Sternberg's additive factor method was generalized to apply to tasks involving both serial and concurrent processing. The generalization is based on the critical path method of scheduling. The effects on reaction time of factors prolonging separate processes in a task are discussed; in general these effects are interactions of a simple form. Reaction times can be used to deduce, in part, the schedule of the mental processes in a task, including their order of execution. Bounds on process durations can be derived. Often there are redundant equations so the method can be easily rejected if it does not apply. A dual task experiment by Greenwald was analyzed. In the task subjects were presented with two stimuli and made a response to each under high and low compatibility conditions. Two bottlenecks in processing were located: (a) Subjects make only one decision at a time, in accordance with single channel theory, although the high compatibility condition may be an exception; (b) there is a mental process which takes longer when the stimuli conflict. The decisions about the two stimuli probably change places in the schedula when compatibility is changed.     

Premise-pair training for valid tests of serial list organization in macaques

This study evaluated the role of several different training procedures on (1) efficiency of acquisition and (2) organizational characteristics of memory for lists that could be serially ordered. Five macaque monkeys were trained via two-choice object discriminations in a formboard apparatus on several five-item-series tasks that provided different levels of intrasession conditionality. Although ease of acquisition differed for subsets of the constituent pairs, concurrent inclusion of the four premise pairs that defined a list required equivalent amounts of training on every task. All training procedures yielded similar retention-test performances and showed common organizational properties (on both error and latency measures) consistent with the view that lists were retained as internally represented ordered series. Test outcomes emphasized the need for integrated exposition of all concurrent conditional relationships to allow appropriate tests of serial organization. However, if given such training, the monkeys revealed integrated serial memory even though they had never seen many of the possible novel combinations of list items. In overview, their performances offered further definition of the procedures required for valid assessment of inferential properties in comparative cognition. Electronic Publication     

Development of syntax in a retarded girl using procedures of imitation, reinforcement, and modelling

Three experiments demonstrated the development and generalized use of a singular and plural declarative sentence in a child initially lacking sentence form responses. In each experiment, an adult(s) served as a language model(s), and consequences (sweets) were provided for imitation of the model. During training trials, an item(s) was displayed first to the model(s) then to the subject; these displays were accompanied by requests to label the item(s). Generalization was assessed by a number of probe trials that were periodically interspersed among training trials. During these trials, the subject was requested to label the displayed item(s) without any preceding labelling response from the model. Using these procedures, generalized use of a singular sentence ("That is one-") resulted in Experiment I, and generalized use of a plural sentence ("These are two-") resulted in Experiment II. In Experiment III, two models (a singular and a plural sentence model) were made available to the subject but imitation of only one model was reinforced during any one condition. Results indicated the subject labelled probe (generalization) items with the same sentence form that was modelled and reinforced during training trials.     

Generalization hypothesis of abstract-concept learning: learning strategies and related issues in Macaca mulatta, Cebus apella, and Columba livia

The generalization hypothesis of abstract-concept learning was tested with a meta-analysis of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), and pigeons (Columba livia) learning a same/different (S/D) task with expanding training sets. The generalization hypothesis states that as the number of training items increases, generalization from the training pairs will increase and could explain the subjects' accurate novel-stimulus transfer. By contrast, concept learning is learning the relationship between each pair of items; with more training items subjects learn more exemplars of the rule and transfer better. Having to learn the stimulus pairs (the generalization hypothesis) would require more training as the set size increases, whereas learning the concept might require less training because subjects would be learning an abstract rule. The results strongly support concept or rule learning despite severely relaxing the generalization-hypothesis parameters. Thus, generalization was not a factor in the transfer from these experiments, adding to the evidence that these subjects were learning the S/D abstract concept.     

THE DEVELOPMENT AND GENERALIZATION OF DELAYED IMITATION1

An individual's behavior can be identified as imitative if it temporally follows the behavior of another individual and if its topography is controlled by the demonstrated behavior [Baer, Peterson, and Sherman (Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1967, 10 , 405–416)]. This definition takes into account both temporal and topographical characteristics of the behavior in question. More recent research in the area of imitation has interpreted the temporal component of the above definition differentially by limiting imitation to those topographically similar responses occurring within 3, 5, or 10 sec after a model's demonstration. Yet, Gewirtz and Stingle (Psychological Review, 1968, 75 , 375–397) pointed out that much of the imitation seen in young children is not of this immediate nature, but instead occurs sometime after a model's response. They further suggest that this type of imitative behavior can be characterized as a response class and is susceptible to development and modification as a function of consequences delivered to subjects contingent on this type of delayed responding. Four retarded children, three initially imitative and one nonimitative, were individually trained to imitate a number of motor responses in an immediate and a delayed fashion. Immediate imitation was defined as a response similar to a model's demonstration occurring within 5 sec after the model's demonstration; delayed imitation was defined as a response similar to a model's demonstration occurring more than 5 sec, but not more than 25 sec, after the model's demonstration. A reversal (ABAB) design was employed to examine the experimental development of a generalized delayed imitative repertoire. Untrained probe responses were demonstrated to subjects systematically through the ongoing training. Generalized immediate and delayed imitation were observed in each subject; this generalization was restricted to the type of imitation currently undergoing training. This development of a generalized imitation repertoire was observed in each subject. That is, these subjects imitated some responses that had never been specifically trained. More importantly, a training package consisting of prompting, fading, and consequences for delayed imitation functioned to develop generalized delayed imitation. These data exemplify a special case of generalization that was a function of the most recent training history of immediate or delayed imitation. The reversal design demonstrated that imitations of nontrained models were either delayed or immediate, depending upon which form of imitation was currently receiving training. Therefore, for each form of imitation trained, delayed or immediate, a corresponding response class was demonstrated. These data relate to data reported by Garcia, Baer, and Firestone (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1971, 4 , 101–112). The association lies in the proposition that there are identifiable boundaries of generalized imitation and that these boundaries are functionally related to previous training histories.     

PROGRAMMING “LOOSE TRAINING” AS A STRATEGY TO FACILITATE LANGUAGE GENERALIZATION

This study investigated the generalization of spontaneous complex language behavior across a nontraining setting and the durability of generalization as a result of programming and “loose training” strategy. A within-subject, across-behaviors multiple-baseline design was used to examine the performance of two moderately retarded students in the use of is/are across three syntactic structures (i.e., “wh” questions, “yes/no” reversal questions, and statements). The language training procedure used in this study represented a functional example of programming “loose training.” The procedure involved conducting concurrent language training within the context of an academic training task, and establishing a functional reduction in stimulus control by permitting the student to initiate a language response based on a wide array of naturally occurring stimulus events. Concurrent probes were conducted in the free play setting to assess the immediate generalization and the durability of the language behaviors. The results demonstrated that “loose training” was effective in establishing a specific set of language responses with the participants of this investigation. Further, both students demonstrated spontaneous use of the language behavior in the free play generalization setting and a trend was clearly evident for generalization to continue across time. Thus, the methods used appear to be successful for training the use of is/are in three syntactic structures.     

Children's metacognition: Exploring relations among knowledge,process, and motivational variables

Following a metamemory pretest, 60 first and third grade children (6 and 8 years of age, respectively) were divided into three treatment groups which received task-specific strategy instructions appropriate for three memory problems, general metacognitive information about subordinate and superordinate processing, or both strategy and metacognitive training. Maintenance and generalization versions of the memory tasks were given, followed by an attributional assessment of children's perceptions of the causes for specific success and failure outcomes. Post-training scores on the memory tasks showed that strategy training was highly successful. Metacognitive training appeared to have no effect on the metameory or strategy scores with one exception: metamemory and strategy use on the generalization task were significantly correlated only for children who received both metacognitive and strategy training. Apparently, children who were initially high in metamemory skills profited more from the comprehensive training package, using new metacognitive insights to aid the generalization of acquired strategies to the transfer tasks. Among strategy-trained children those who attributed success to effort were both more strategic and higher in metamemory than those who attributed task outcomes to noncontrollable factors such as ability or task characteristics. Results were discussed in terms of the interactive nature of knowledge, process, and motivational variables as determinants of strategy transfer.     

Effects of verbal imitation and comprehension training on verbal production

This study sought to determine whether some combination of imitation training and comprehension training was necessary to achieve verbal production or whether comprehension training alone was sufficient to result in verbal production. Fifty-one first- and second-grade subjects were trained to imitate eight words (Spanish nouns) for which there were no referents. An additional set of eight words was trained in a comprehension task where overt verbal rehearsal was prohibited. Once criterion of two successive sessions of 100% performance was reached in training for both imitation and comprehension, training modes were reversed so that items initially trained in imitation were then trained in comprehension andvice versa. Results showed that initial comprehension training did result in some verbal production, whereas initial imitation training, as expected, did not. A marked improvement in verbal production performance was observed when initial comprehension training was followed by imitation training. When initial imitation training was followed by comprehension training, verbal production also resulted but not to the degree or with the consistency of performance which marked the comprehension-then-imitation sequence. Furthermore, comprehension training required more trials to reach a similar level of proficiency when it followed imitation training than when it preceded imitation. These data indicate that initial imitation training interferes with acquisition of subsequent comprehension and production responses and that the preferred training sequence is one which initially focuses on comprehension and follows this with verbal imitation.This study was supported by Grant HD 00870 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Grant NS 10468 from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke awarded to the Bureau of Child Research, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.     

Defining Elemental Imitation Mechanisms: A Comparison of Cognitive and Motor-Spatial Imitation Learning Across Object- and Computer-Based Tasks

During the first 5 years of life, the versatility, breadth, and fidelity with which children imitate change dramatically. Currently, there is no model to explain what underlies such significant changes. To that end, the present study examined whether task-independent but domain-specific—elemental—imitation mechanism explains performance across imitation tasks or domains. Preschool-age children (n = 156) were tested on 4 imitation tasks, 2 object-based (animal, puzzle box) and 2 computer-based (cognitive, motor-spatial). All tasks involved 3 serial actions. The animal task involved making an animal face, and the puzzle box task involved manipulating a box to retrieve a reward. The cognitive task involved responding to 3 different pictures in a specific picture order, and the motor-spatial task involved responding to 3 identical pictures in a specific spatial order. A principal component analysis including performance on all 4 tasks produced 2 components: “cognitive imitation” (cognitive and animal tasks) and “motor-spatial imitation” (motor-spatial and puzzle box tasks). Regression analyses replicated these results. These findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that underlying performance across these different tasks involves multiple—elemental—imitation mechanisms for learning and copying domain-specific information across tasks.     

Dual-task training reduces impact of cognitive task on postural sway

Postural sway increases when a cognitive task is performed concurrently with a postural task. The author examined the hypothesis that following dual-task training, a concurrent cognitive task would not amplify postural sway. Participants (N = 18) were assigned to no-training, single-task training, or dual-task training groups. Single-task training consisted of 3 sessions in which the postural task, quiet standing on a compliant surface, and the cognitive task, counting backward by 3s, were practiced separately. Dual-task training consisted of 3 sessions of concurrent practice of the cognitive and postural tasks. After training, performance of a concurrent cognitive task increased postural sway in the no-training and single-task training groups but not in the dual-task training group. Results suggest that dual-task practice improves dual-task performance.