Elicited Imitation and Assessment of Abilities

Abstract

It is possible to regard imitation within at least three theoretical frameworks. First, imitation may be regarded as a special case of another more general form of learning (Miller and Dollard, 1941; Gewirtz, 1971). Secondly, it is possible to consider imitation as a unique process which may be accounted for in its own right (Bandura, 1969). A third theory of imitation has its origin in the work of Piaget (1951) and suggests that imitation is only one aspect of the total functioning of an individual and lies between accommodation and assimilation. The Piagetian account of imitation implies that as an individual develops, his imitations undergo a series of transformations, so that the level of organization of the individual directly influences his imitations. There is some evidence that, in the case of the severely subnormal child, the Piagetian theory has implications for both the development of learning and the assessment of abilities. In a series of experiments requiring the ESNS children to imitate sounds in words, whole words, strings of words (structured and semi-structured) and sentences of varying complexity (Berry, 1971; 1973), an analysis of errors indicated differential levels and strategies of processing the linguistic input. In addition, the level of performance on imitation tasks correlated significantly with abilities on other tasks of linguistic ability such as receptive vocabulary, the comprehension of sentences of varying syntactic complexity and the ability to vary syntactic complexity and the ability to produce language related to picture stimuli. Evidence from other researchers using the technique for the assessment of language (e.g. Slobin, 1968; Osser, Wang and Zaid, 1970) as well as studies in motor imitation (e.g. Wapner and Cirillo, 1968) suggests that elicited imitation of a model might be a useful technique for the psychological assessment of skills, since errors in imitation tasks seem to be directly related to the individual's competence.