imitation
Summary
Imitation is copying the behavior of a model, the core of observational learning in Bandura's social learning theory. Learning can occur without direct reinforcement, and seeing a model rewarded or punished (vicarious reinforcement) changes how likely the observer is to copy.
Detail
Meaning: Imitation is performing a behavior after watching a model do it. It is the key step in observational learning in Bandura's social learning theory: people can acquire behavior without being directly reinforced themselves. The processes usually listed are attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Observers tend to imitate models who are similar, admired, or rewarded (vicarious reinforcement).
On the MCAT: Passages describe children watching an adult act aggressively, as in Bandura's Bobo doll experiment, then count how often the children copy it. Expect comparisons: a rewarded model usually produces more imitation than a punished one. Mirror neurons, which fire both when acting and when watching an action, are proposed as a neural basis.
Common confusion: Imitation is not conditioning, because the observer never directly experiences the stimulus pairing or the consequence. Also, a child who does not copy a punished model may still have learned the behavior. Learning and performance are separate, and the behavior can appear when incentives change.
Sources
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.