title: The social control of generalized imitation.
abstract: Instructions, discrimination procedures, and sources of reinforcement were manipulated in order to determine the bases for the maintained "non-reinforced" imitations observed in generalized imitation research. Six girls received imitation training from two experimenters. One experimenter modelled only reinforced responses; the other modelled only non-reinforced responses. The children imitated all responses when no reinforced alternative was available, even though results of choice procedures and special instructions clearly demonstrated that they discriminated reinforced from non-reinforced responses. Instructions not to perform non-reinforced imitations immediately eliminated these behaviors. It is suggested that social setting events may be largely responsible for generalized imitation.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Steinman