ABSTRACT
The development of a class of behaviors which may fairly be called "imitation" is an interesting task, partly because of its relevance to the process of socialization in general and lan guage development in particular, and partly because of its poten tial value as a training technique for children who require special methods of instruction. Imitation is not a specific set of behav iors that can be exhaustively listed. Any behavior may be con sidered imitative if it temporally follows behavior demonstrated
by someone else, called a model, and if its topography is func tionally controlled by the topography of the model's behavior. Specifically, this control is such that an observer will note a close similarity between the topography of the model's behavior and that of the imitator. Furthermore, this similarity to the model's behavior will be characteristic of the imitator in responding to a wide variety of the model's behaviors. Such control could result, for example, if topographical similarity to a model's behavior were a reinforcing stimulus dimension for the imitator.
