Imitation is seeing action, remembering it, and then doing it {imitation, behavior}| [Thorndike, 1903] [Thorndike, 1911]. In organisms with voluntary muscles, behavior perception can lead to voluntary independent similar behavior, if organism can already perform the behavior by learning or random exercise, and if perception and memory can form behavior representations that can initiate movements. Imitation is voluntary but is also an automatic response. Sense input sets up motor reaction tendency and/or elicits memory.
facial expressions
Facial imitation involves matching seen faces to felt proprioceptive signals while trying to mimic. Minutes after birth, babies can imitate some facial expressions, without visual feedback.
innate
Ability to imitate body or facial expression probably is innate.
age
Infants imitate sounds, gestures, and body positions. From 12 to 15 months, children can imitate up to week after perceiving action. They also can tell when others are imitating them [Meltzoff, 1996].
animals
Birds can imitate bird songs. Parrots can imitate sounds. However, apparent imitation is usually only accidental learning in same situation.
Whales can imitate whale songs [Reiss, 1998].
Perhaps, chimpanzees do not imitate but only transfer skills by being in same situation or learning to conform [Heyes and Galef, 1996] [Tomasello, 1999].
animals: parrots
Sounds must sound the same to parrot as to people in order for parrot to imitate people.
properties: medium
When recreating perceptions, imitation uses a medium, such as paper. When imitating actions, imitation uses the body as medium.
properties: representation
Imitation uses mental representation to imitate actions, such as yawning, or recreate perceptions, such as drawings and sounds.
properties: voluntary muscles
Action imitation uses voluntary muscles.
factors: behavior
Imitation can happen only if people already can perform the automatic procedure.
effects: emotion
Imitating human expression causes people to have associated emotion. Even infant can imitate expression and can have associated emotion.
copying
Imitation allows copying and variation. In competitions, imitations can have different values, and imitated events can evolve. Events copied more have better copies and are more valuable. Events have groups with levels and rules [Blackmore, 1999] [Schoenauer et al., 2000] [Steels, 2000].
Social Sciences>Psychology>Behavior>Kinds
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Date Modified: 2022.0224