Imitation

Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. The word can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to international politics.

Psychology

Recent work in neuroscience suggests that there are specific mechanisms of imitation in the human brain. It has been proposed that there is a system of mirror neurons. These mirror neurons fire both when an animal performs an action and when the animal observes the same action performed by another (especially a conspecific) animal. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were himself performing the action. These neurons have been observed in humans, primates, and certain birds. In humans, mirror neurons are located in Broca's area and the inferior parietal cortex of the brain. Some scientists consider mirror neurons to be one of the most important findings of neuroscience in the last decade.

Despite the evidence that suggests that other animals can imitate, there is some controversy. Case in point, in her book "The Meme Machine", Susan Blackmore contends that imitation is what makes humans unique among animals. Imitation might have been selected as fit by evolution because those who were good at it had a wider arsenal of learned cultural behavior, such as tool making or language.

Anthropology

In anthropology, diffusion theories explain why cultures imitate the ideas or practices of other cultures. Some theories hold that all cultures imitate ideas from one or a few original cultures, the Adam of the Bible, or several cultural circles that overlap. Evolutionary diffusion theory holds that cultures are influenced by one another, but that similar ideas can be developed in isolation.

Sociology

The study of the diffusion of innovation is the study of how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures.

Theories of Innovation Diffusion

French sociologist Gabriel Tarde originally claimed that sociology was based on small psychological interactions among individuals, especially imitation and innovation.

Diffusion of innovations theory was formalized by Everett Rogers in a 1962 book called Diffusion of Innovations. Rogers stated that adopters of any new innovation or idea could be categorized as innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early majority (34%), late majority (34%) and laggards (16%), based on a bell curve. Each adopter's willingness and ability to adopt an innovation would depend on their awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. Some of the characteristics of each category of adopter include:

innovators - venturesome, educated, multiple info sources, greater propensity to take risk
early adopters - social leaders, popular, educated
early majority - deliberate, many informal social contacts
late majority - skeptical, traditional, lower socio-economic status
laggards - neighbours and friends are main info sources, fear of debt

Rogers also proposed a five stage model for the diffusion of innovation:

Knowledge - learning about the existence and function of the innovation
Persuasion - becoming convinced of the value of the innovation
Decision - committing to the adoption of the innovation
Implementation - putting it to use
Confirmation - the ultimate acceptance (or rejection) of the innovation

The S-Curve and technology adoption

The adoption curve becomes a s-curve when cumulative adoption is used.

Rogers theorized that innovations would spread through society in an S curve, as the early adopters select the technology first, followed by the majority, until a technology or innovation is common.

The speed of technology adoption is determined by two characteristics p, which is the speed at which adoption takes off, and q, the speed at which later growth occurs. A cheaper technology might have a higher p, for example, taking off more quickly, while a technology that has network effects (like a fax machine, where the value of the item increases as others get it) may have a higher q.

Caveats and Criticisms

Critics of this model have suggested that it is an overly simplfied representation of a complex reality. A number of other phenomena can influence innovation adoption rates. One of these is that customers often adapt technology to their own needs, so the innovation may actually change in nature from the early adopters to the majority of users. A second is that disruptive technologies may radically change the diffusion patterns for established technology by starting a different competing S-curve. Finally, path dependence may lock certain technologies in place, as in the QWERTY keyboard.

In music it refers to the repetition of a phrase played on one instrument, by another instrument.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Rogers, Everett M. (1962). Diffusion of Innovation. New York, NY: Free Press.
Rogers, Everett M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovation, Fifth Edition. New York, NY: Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-2209-1.

External links

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