Imitation by Children in Primary Grades: Effects of Vicarious Habit and Social Drive
- 1 February 1974
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Perceptual and Motor Skills
- Vol. 38 (1) , 155-160
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1974.38.1.155
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the number of presentations of modeled events (5 vs 1) and the presence of an audience (a male E) on imitation. The effects of these variables may be predicted from behavior theory by assuming that they constitute social sources of habit and drive, respectively. Children in primary grades ( N = 64) were exposed to 1 and 5 presentations of events presented either by a video-taped human model or a video tape without a human model and then were given an opportunity to play with the materials seen on TV while playing in the absence or presence of an audience (a male E). Imitation increased with 5 presentations and decreased in the presence of the male E. The predicted interaction between the effects of number of presentations and presence or absence of an audience was found. The utility of behavior theory in predicting, explaining, and integrating research in imitation was discussed.Keywords
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