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GENERALIZED RECIPROCAL IMITATION IN CHILDREN
Author(s) -
Smeets Paul M.,
Kauffman James M.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1980.tb00017.x
Subject(s) - imitation , psychology , generalization , developmental psychology , copying , modelling , reciprocal , social psychology , teaching method , mathematical analysis , pedagogy , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , political science , law
SUMMARY Experiment 1 assessed generalized imitation in kindergarten and first grade children. First grade children imitated adults at a high rate only after being imitated by one of them. Kindergarten children also imitated both adults when no consequences were programmed. Experiment 2 explored generalization across tasks. There was a significant difference in imitative performance between tasks. In general, the children imitated the adult significantly less often when modeling responses were different from those used for induction. Children imitated by the adult copied the adult's responses significantly more often than children not imitated, provided that the adult's modeling responses were the same as those imitated before. When demonstrating dissimilar responses, the children who had been imitated avoided copying the adult.