Imitation and locus of control

This study dealt with the relationship between Locus of Control and imitation. Based on a review of the social influence literature, it was hypothesized that external individuals would imitate equally under a condition of model-reward and a condition of no model-reward. It was further hypothesized that internal subjects would demonstrate more imitation under a condition of model-reward than under the condition of no model-reward. Male college students were classified as internal or external on the basis of their scores on the Locus of Control Scale. Internals imitated a rewarded model significantly more than a nonrewarded model. Externals imitated both models equally and at a rate comparable to internals who observed a rewarded model. Subject ratings of model competence were also positively related to imitation among internals but not among externals. The results are interpreted as offering support for the general notion of the effect of observer characteristics on imitation.     

Response uncertainty and imitation: The interactive effects of age and task options

It was reasoned that younger children would be more susceptible to situational uncertainty and thereby imitate more than older children or peers of the same age tested under more structured conditions. Children 6- through 8- and 12- through 14-years-old observed a model toss a bean bag at a target and were tested for target relevant and incidental imitation under conditions of two task options (high structure) or 10 task options (low structure). On both measures of imitation, preadolescents in the low structure condition imitated significantly more than adolescents. Preadolescents also imitated more incidental behavior in the low than in the high structure condition. Additionally, it was found that personality variables predicted imitative behavior of younger subjects in the low structure condition only.     

Toward a reconceptualization of the reciprocal imitation phenomenon: Two experiments

This paper reports two experiments which consider the increased imitation exhibited by models who have been imitated. Experiment 1 was concerned with whether the reciprocal imitation effect is really reciprocal or if the subsequent imitation will generalize to someone else. It was found that adult subjects who were previously imitated at the 75% rate on a perceptual judgments task subsequently imitated their partner more, rated their partner more attractive, and felt more confidence when imitated than did subjects imitated at the 25% rate. These results were obtained regardless of which confederate the subjects imitated, thus indicating that reciprocal imitation is not necessarily reciprocal, but is generalizable. Experiment 2 assessed whether the subsequent imitation is the product of the effects of being imitated or is the result of the subject observing the imitator's imitation. The results indicated that after having observed imitation at a 75% rate, adult onlookers are more likely to subsequently imitate and be attracted to the imitator, the imitated person, and a person new to the situation than are onlookers who observed a 25% imitation rate. A theoretical modification is advanced which holds that subsequent imitation effects, whether from observing others imitate or from being the target of the imitation, result from a process of imitation of imitativeness. The results of these two experiments have implications for theory in imitation and social learning.     

成败情境下不同成就目标取向学生业绩表现的差异

以五、六年级小学生为被试,在设置成功与失败的情境下,考察不同成就目标取向学生业绩表现的差异。结果发现:(1)在两种情境下,掌握目标取向的学生有最高的业绩表现,失败情境下的业绩表现高于成功情境;(2)成绩接近目标取向的学生,在失败情境下的业绩表现与成功情境无显著差异,在成功情境下的业绩表现略高于成绩回避目标取向的学生,失败情境下的业绩表现高于成绩回避目标取向的学生。(3)成绩回避目标取向的学生在失败情境下的业绩表现显著低于成功情境。     

Imitation of emotion: When meaning leads to aversion

Can imitation lead to less liking? Previous research on mimicry and imitation suggests that imitation should lead to more liking, at least when it concerns neutral behaviours. In the present studies, we looked at behaviour with a clear message: Facial expressions. As predicted, we found in two studies that an affiliative facial expression (happiness) leads to more liking when imitated, whereas a non‐affiliative facial expression (anger) leads to less liking when imitated. Thus, imitating someone does not always lead to more liking: Imitating behaviour that communicates an unfriendly message can have negative consequences. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Imitation in toddlers as a function of motor and verbal aspects of modeling

This study investigated the effects of the motor and verbal aspects of modeling on imitation. The subjects were 2- and 3-year-old children (N = 96). The child's imitation responses were recorded during the play period that followed each modeled act. Each child observed the model in one of four modeling conditions. In Condition 1, the model "flew" a telephone while saying that he or she was flying an airplane. Imitation was recorded as motor if the child flew the telephone but was recorded as verbal and realistic if the child flew an airplane. In Condition 2, the model flew an airplane while saying that he or she was flying a telephone. Imitation was recorded as verbal if the child flew the telephone. In Condition 3, the model flew an airplane and said that he or she was flying an airplane. If the child flew an airplane, imitation was scored as motor, verbal, and realistic. In Condition 4, the model flew a telephone and said that he or she was flying a telephone. Imitation was scored as motor and verbal if the child flew the telephone but was scored as realistic if the child flew the airplane. In Condition 1, 2-year-olds displayed more motor imitation than 3-year-olds, and 3-year-olds displayed more verbal-reality imitation than 2-year-olds. Boys displayed more motor imitation than girls. There were no age or sex differences in Condition 2. In Condition 3, 2-year-olds imitated more than 3-year-olds, with 3-year-old girls imitating the least. In Condition 4, reality imitation was largely due to 2-year-old boys' imitation of masculine-type acts.     

网络成瘾者不同情绪状态下的认知加工特征

取在校大学生454人,通过《青少年病理性互联网使用量表》（Adolescent Pathological Internet Use Scale, APIUS),筛查出网络成瘾者31名为实验组,随机抽取样本中其他非成瘾大学生31人为对照组。使用词首－词尾对应三重意义组合图片60个为实验材料,用人物图片为情绪启动刺激,研究被试在不同情绪状态下的认知选择,记录被试选择词组性质和反应时间。研究发现,所有被试对积极词语的选择最多,对消极词语的选择最少,表现出“趋乐避苦”的认知选择倾向;成瘾组被试对积极词语的选择比对照组少,但是对消极词语选择比对照组多。悲伤启动情况下,成瘾组被试对积极词语的选择比对照组少,但是对消极词语的选择则比对照组多。成瘾组被试对积极信息的选择速度比对照组慢,但是对中性信息和消极信息的选择速度则比对照组快。愉快情绪启动下,成瘾组被试的反应时间比对照组短,在悲伤情绪启动下,成瘾组被试的反应时间比对照组长。悲伤情绪启动下,成瘾组被试对积极词语的反应时间比对照组慢,但是对消极词语的反应时间比对照组快。这些研究结果对网络成瘾的治疗有重要的参考价值。     

Index to Volume 163

This study investigated the effects of the motor and verbal aspects of modeling on imitation. The subjects were 2- and 3-year-old children (N = 96). The child's imitation responses were recorded during the play period that followed each modeled act. Each child observed the model in one of four modeling conditions. In Condition 1, the model “flew” a telephone while saying that he or she was flying an airplane. Imitation was recorded as motor if the child flew the telephone but was recorded as verbal and realistic if the child flew an airplane. In Condition 2, the model flew an airplane while saying that he or she was flying a telephone. Imitation was recorded as verbal if the child flew the telephone. In Condition 3, the model flew an airplane and said that he or she was flying an airplane. If the child flew an airplane, imitation was scored as motor, verbal, and. realistic. In Condition 4, the model flew a telephone and said that he or she was flying a telephone. Imitation was scored as motor and verbal if the child flew the telephone but was scored as realistic if the child flew the airplane. In Condition 1, 2-year-olds displayed more motor imitation than 3-year-olds, and 3-year-olds displayed more verbal-reality imitation than 2-year-olds. Boys displayed more motor imitation than girls. There were no age or sex differences in Condition 2. In Condition 3, 2-year-olds imitated more than 3-year-olds, with 3-year-old girls imitating the least. In Condition 4, reality imitation was largely due to 2-year-old boys' imitation of masculine-type acts.     

“Being‐Imitated” Strategy at Home‐Based Intervention for Young Children with Autism

Previous studies have consistently shown that simply imitating children with autism will help to promote amount of gaze and to decrease distance to others. However, whether the “being‐imitated” strategy also affects the development of social cognition has not been clarified. We conducted a 2‐month researcher‐guided and home‐based intervention. Mothers were randomly assigned to two groups: One group was coached to engage the child using imitation, and the other was coached simply to respond contingently to bids. Before and after the 2‐month intervention, imitation skills, understanding the intentions of others’ acts, and gaze toward mothers were measured. Two months of being‐imitated enables the children to raise the general amount of their gaze interaction. The imitation skills also were promoted. On the other hand, the development of understanding others’ intentions was not observed, irrespective of condition. The increase of attention to others, which is facilitated by the accumulation of the being‐imitated experiences, can be generalized to the nonimitating person and results in the imitation of others by the child. Alternatively, the developmental linkages between the being‐imitated strategy and understanding of others’ intentions should be an important research task. The present study also indicates that caretakers can play a significant role in the intervention for a child with autism.     

Imitation recognition in a captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

This study investigated the ability of a captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) to recognise when he is being imitated. In the experimental condition of test 1a, an experimenter imitated the postures and behaviours of the chimpanzee as they were being displayed. In three control conditions the same experimenter exhibited (1) actions that were contingent on, but different from, the actions of the chimpanzee, (2) actions that were not contingent on, and different from, the actions of the chimpanzee, or (3) no action at all. The chimpanzee showed more "testing" sequences (i.e., systematically varying his actions while oriented to the imitating experimenter) and more repetitive behaviour when he was being imitated, than when he was not. This finding was replicated 4 months later in test 1b. When the experimenter repeated the same actions she displayed in the experimental condition of test 1a back to the chimpanzee in test 2, these actions now did not elicit those same testing sequences or repetitive behaviours. However, a live imitation condition did. Together these results provide the first evidence of imitation recognition in a nonhuman animal.     

Do humans ape? Or do apes human? Imitation and intention in humans (Homo sapiens) and other animals

A. Whiten, D. M. Custance, J.-C. Gomez, P. Teixidor, and K. A. Bard (1996) tested chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) and human children's (Homo sapiens) skills at imitation with a 2-action test on an "artificial fruit." Chimpanzees imitated to a restricted degree; children were more thoroughly imitative. Such results prompted some to assert that the difference in imitation indicates a difference in the subjects' understanding of the intentions of the demonstrator (M. Tomasello, 1996). In this experiment, 37 adult human subjects were tested with the artificial fruit. Far from being perfect imitators, the adults were less imitative than the children. These results cast doubt on the inference from imitative performance to an ability to understand others' intentions. The results also demonstrate how any test of imitation requires a control group and attention to the level of behavioral analysis.     

Causal attributions for success and failure in relation to expectations of success based upon selective or manipulative control

Subjects worked at a 10-item Anagrams Test. In a manipulative control condition the prior performance of subjects on a set of practice anagrams was controlled so that half of these subjects began the test with high expectations of success and half with low expectations of success As a check on the manipulation, subjects provided ratings of how confident they were that they could pass the test (i e, solve five anagrams or more) In a selective control condition subjects were not given practice items but were subsequently assigned to high versus low expectation groups on the basis of their confidence ratings The difficulty level of the items in the Anagrams Test was manipulated so that half the subjects in each condition passed the test and half failed. Subsequently all subjects were required to rate the degree to which they considered ability (or lack of ability), effort (or lack of effort), task difficulty (easy or hard), and luck (good or bad) were causes of their performance outcome (success or failure). It was found that the expected success was attributed more to ability and less to good luck than was the unexpected success The expected failure was attributed more to lack of ability and less to bad luck than was the unexpected failure There was a greater tendency for subjects to appeal to task difficulty and effort as causes of their performance when they succeeded than when they failed. These results were discussed in terms of a structural balance model of attribution behavior and also in relation to Heider's naive analysis of the causes of action     

The effects of four outcome schedules on persistence,liking for the task,and attributions of causality1

Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four schedules of outcomes on a problem solving task ascending, descending, constant success, and constant failure As predicted by White's theory of competence motivation, constant success subjects showed a sharp drop in desire to persist over time, interpreted as satiation of competence motivation Ascending subjects showed significantly more persistence than constant success subjects, with descending and constant failure subjects falling between these two conditions No differences on the final measure were found among conditions for liking for the task and attributions of causality, although significant differences between ascending and descending subjects were obtained on the difference scores, with ascending subjects showing more positive change than descending m liking and internal causality, from the first to the second measure     

The effect of incongruent instructions and consequences on imitation in retarded children

Three retarded boys served as subjects in a 13-phase experiment. In eight of these phases, the instructions administered by the experimenter before demonstrating a behavior and the consequences for imitative behavior were incongruent (the consequences were not those indicated by the instructions). Consequences rather than instructions controlled imitative behavior when (a) subjects were instructed not to imitate but received reinforcers if they imitated; (b) subjects were instructed to imitate but were differentially reinforced for other behavior; (c) subjects were instructed to imitate but were verbally reprimanded for imitation. Although subjects were highly imitative at the beginning of the study, when there was no reinforcement for imitation subjects gradually stopped imitating when instructed not to imitate. Instructions seemed to control imitative behavior when there was no reinforcement for imitation and subjects were instructed to imitate. These results indicated a need for further investigation of antecedent and consequent variables in imitation experiments and pointed out that certain techniques may be more efficient than others in eliminating well-established responses.     

Independence training,need achievement and need affiliation

American white and American Indian grade school boys and girls from the North Central Plains are studied. The previously shown significant and positive relationship between high need achievement and low need affiliation is hypothesized to be a culturally based and sex related phenomenon. The early training of Plains Indian children especially that of boys emphasizes early independence rather than either affiliation or achievement. As hypothesized, it was found in this study both that white children had significantly higher need affiliation scores than Indian children and that boys indicated higher need achievement than girls, indicating cultural and sexual differences. It appeared also that success is a more potent condition for Indian boys in intensifying need achievement scores, whereas failure intensifies the need achievement scores of white children. This suggests that perceived success and failure operate differentially between these cultural groups. Other results also corroborate earlier findings of the culture bias of « standard » intelligence tests.     

The value of being imitated

Theories and research on the topics of attraction, conformity, and imitation support the view that the relational stimulus arising from being imitated serves a reinforcing function. To examine this possibility, 48 preschool children performed a task in which some neutral stimuli were repeatedly associated with an adult's matching the behavior of the subject, and other neutral stimuli were associated with the same adult's mismatching the behavior of the subject. Preference for the stimuli associated with being matched was greater at the end of training than earlier, and the overall preference for the matched stimuli exceeded chance. The results are considered in terms of the thesis that similarity arising from being imitated served a reinforcing function and the thesis that response strategies were adopted by the children.     

Priming third‐party ostracism increases affiliative imitation in children

Human beings are intensely social creatures and, as such, devote significant time and energy to creating and maintaining affiliative bonds with group members. Nevertheless, social relations sometimes collapse and individuals experience exclusion from the group. Fortunately for adults, they are able to use behavioral strategies such as mimicry to reduce their social exclusion. Here we test whether children, too, increase their imitation following an experience of ostracism. Given humans’ profound need to belong, we predicted that the mere hint of social exclusion – even third‐party social exclusion – would be sufficient to increase affiliative imitation in 5‐year‐olds. As predicted, children primed with videos in which one shape was ostracized by a group of other shapes subsequently imitated the actions of a model more closely than children in a control condition. These findings highlight just how sensitive humans are to social exclusion and demonstrate that children, like adults, modify their social behavior in response to ostracism.     

Public Self-Awareness and Success-Failure Feedback as Disinhibitors of Restrained Eating

This study investigated the role of public self-awareness and distress in disinhibiting eating. Ninety-six women who were classified as restrained or unrestrained eaters completed a computerized social perception test during which public self-awareness (low vs. high) and type of feedback (success vs. failure) were manipulated. Following the test, restrained subjects ate more than did unrestrained subjects. When public self-awareness was low, subjects who received failure feedback consumed more than those who were exposed to success feedback. An opposite pattern occurred in the high-self-awareness condition. A post hoc examination revealed that restrained subjects exhibited more regulated eating behavior when exposed to a combination of disinhibitors, whereas each disinhibitor taken separately was associated with increased consumption. Results were interpreted in terms of the self-awareness reduction model of eating.     

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.     

Kinematic Measures of Imitation Fidelity in Primary School Children

We sought to develop a method for measuring imitation accuracy objectively in primary school children. Children imitated a model drawing shapes on the same computer-tablet interface they saw used in video clips, allowing kinematics of model and observers' actions to be directly compared. Imitation accuracy was reported as a correlation reflecting the statistical dependency between values of the model's and participant's sets of actions, or as a mean absolute difference between them. Children showed consistent improvement in imitation accuracy across middle childhood. They appeared to rationalize the demands of the task by remembering duration and size of action, which enabled them to reenact speed through motor-planning mechanisms. Kinematic measures may provide a window into the cognitive mechanisms involved in imitation.