ABSTRACT
Explanations of modeling phenomena usually cease at the point where modeling stimuli are attributed informative functions. It is evident from the material already discussed at length that the social learning interpretation of modeling processes is compatible with rule-learning theories advanced by psycholinguists. Further evidence for the influential role of modeling processes in language acquisition is provided by naturalistic studies employing sequential analyses of children's verbalizations and the immediately following parental responses. The associative theories explained how previously learned behavior might be elicited by the actions of others. Theories of modeling similarly assumed that observational learning occurred through reinforcement of imitative behavior. In an elaboration of the affective-feedback theory of imitation, J. Aronfreed advanced the view that pleasurable and aversive affective states become conditioned to both response-produced stimuli and cognitive templates of modeled actions. In social learning theory the phenomena ordinarily subsumed under the labels imitation and identification are designated as modeling.
