Imitation

Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an action is elicited by an individual's observation and subsequent replication of another's behavior. The term imitation is often used in theoretical and descriptive contexts. Many of the theories and ideas surrounding imitation can be applied across many disciplines.

Psychology

Infant Research

Over the years, infant imitation has . Some of the fundamental studies on the topic are those of Piaget (1962), McDougall (1908), and Guillaume (1926). Piaget's study is perhaps the most famous and also included the majority of the experimental data of the time can be surmised in six stages of behavior.

Stage 1: The preparation for imitation facilitated through reflexes to external stimuli.
Stage 2: A time of sporadic imitation wherein the child includes new gestures or vocal imitations that are clearly perceived.
Stage 3: Imitation of sounds and movements that the child has already done or observed.
Stage 4: Child is able to imitate those around him, even when the movements are not visible.
Stage 5: Imitation becomes more systematic and the child internalizes these invisible movements.
Stage 6: Known as deferred imitation, this step in the process refers to imitation that does not occur immediately or in the presence of the demonstrator. The child is now able to internalize a series of models from external stimuli.

Piaget on Imitation

Piaget claimed that infants confused the acts of others with their own. Infants will respond to another infant's cry with their own and infants aged four to eight months will mimic the facial expressions of their caregivers. In his book entitled Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood, Piaget claimed that this observed infant behavior could be understood as "pseudo-imitation" because of the lack of intentional effort on part of the infant. Rather than a display of emotion, the copied expression of the infants to him was more of a reflex. Piaget also viewed imitation as a step between intelligence and sensorimotor response and maintained that the internalization of beliefs, values, or emotions was the child's ability to purposely imitate something from their environment.

Animal Research

Animal behaviors that are imitated can be understood through social influence. Social influence is any influence that one organism may have on another that produces a behavior in the other organism that is similar. Factors that are typical between and within species are mimicry and contagion. Mimicry involves the imitation of physical appearance between two species. Mertensian or Batesian mimicry occurs when an animal takes on the physical appearance or behavior of another species that has better defenses, thus appearing to predators to be the imitated species. Contagion, which can also be referred to as nemesis, occurs when two or more animals engage in a behavior that is typical of their species. Prime examples of contagion behavior are courtship, herding, flocking, and eating.

When studying imitative behavior in animals, one animal usually observes another animal who performs a novel behavior that has been learned through either classical or operant conditioning. The acquisition of the behavior from the animal who observes the performed novel response is understood to be imitation. The acquisition of the animal's imitation of the novel reponse can be explained through both motivational factors such as the social facilitation of being around another animal, reinforcement through incentives, and the acquiring of the novel response in order to avoid an aversive stimulus. There are also perceptual factors involved wherein the consequences of the demonstrator draws the attention of the observing animal.

Neuroscience

Recent work in neuroscience suggests that there are specific mechanisms for 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 animal, especially with a conspecific animal. This system of mirror neurons have been observed in humans, primates, and certain birds. In humans, mirror neurons are localized in Broca's area and the inferior parietal cortex of the brain. Some scientists consider the discovery of mirror neurons to be one of the most important findings in the field of neuroscience in the last decade.

Anthropology

In anthropology, diffusion theories account for the phenomenon of cultures imitating the ideas or practices of others. Some theories contend that all cultures imitate ideas from one or a several original cultures, possibly creating a series of overlapping cultural circles. Evolutionary diffusion theory affirms that cultures are influenced by one another, but also claims that similar ideas can be developed in isolation of one another.

Sociology

The study of the diffusion of innovation is the study of how, why, and at the rate at which 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, with the fundamental forces being imitation and innovation.

Diffusion of innovations theory was formalized by Everett Rogers in his book called Diffusion of Innovations (1962). Rogers stated that individuals who adopt any new innovation or idea could be categorized as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. 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 adopters 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 - neighbors 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 the logistical function known as the S curve, as the early adopters select the technology first, followed by the majority, until a technology or innovation is commonplace.

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 (e.g. a fax machine, where the value of the item increases as others get it) may have a higher q.

Caveats and Criticisms

Critics of the diffusion of innovations theory have suggested that it is an overly simplified representation of a complex reality. A number of other phenomena can influence adoption rates of innovation. Firstly, these customers often adapt technology to their own needs, so the innovation may actually change in nature as number of users increases. Secondly, disruptive technology may radically change the diffusion patterns for established technology by establishing a competing S-curve. Finally, path dependence may lock certain technologies in place. An example of this would be the QWERTY keyboard.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Imitation in Animals: Evidence, Functions, and Mechanisms [1]
Piaget, Jean P. (1962). Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood. New York, NY: Norton.
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.

Wyrwicka, Wanda. (1996). Imitation in Human and Animal Behavior. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

External links

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