Generalized vocal imitation in infants

Poulson, Claire L.; Kymissis, Effie; Reeve, Kenneth F.; Andreatos, Maria; Reeve, Lori

doi:10.1016/0022-0965(91)90036-r

Cited by 63 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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Section: Is Vocal Imitation An Outcome Of Instrumental Conditioning?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Baer and colleagues' generalized imitation framework, a vocalization is imitative if it occurs after a vocal act demonstrated by another individual, and if the form of the model's vocalization determines the form of the copier's vocalization. The proposal that generalized vocal imitation can be viewed as a consequence of operant conditioning has received some support from recent studies of the role of vocal imitation in speech development by children (Poulson, Kymissis, Reeve, Andreators, & Reeve, 1991;Poulson, Kyparissos, Andreatos, Kymissis, & Parnes, 2002).Collectively, past theoretical analyses of vocal imitation by experimental psychologists have often focused on establishing that this phenomenon can be viewed as an outcome of instrumental conditioning with few if any unique characteristics. These accounts generally do not explain why vocal imitation abilities are absent in most mammals.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Imitating Sounds: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Vocal Imitation

Mercado¹,

Mantell²,

Pfordresher³

2014

CCBR

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Vocal imitation is often described as a specialized form of learning that facilitates social communication and that involves less cognitively sophisticated mechanisms than more "perceptually opaque" types of imitation. Here, we present an alternative perspective. Considering current evidence from adult mammals, we note that vocal imitation often does not lead to learning and can involve a wide range of cognitive processes. We further suggest that sound imitation capacities may have evolved in certain mammals, such as cetaceans and humans, to enhance both the perception of ongoing actions and the prediction of future events, rather than to facilitate mate attraction or the formation of social bonds. The ability of adults to voluntarily imitate sounds is better described as a cognitive skill than as a communicative learning mechanism. Sound imitation abilities are gradually acquired through practice and require the coordination of multiple perceptual-motor and cognitive mechanisms for representing and generating sounds. Understanding these mechanisms is critical to explaining why relatively few mammals are capable of flexibly imitating sounds, and why individuals vary in their ability to imitate sounds. Keywords: mimicry; copying; social learning; singing; emulation; imitatible; convergence; imitativenessIn his seminal text, Habitat and Instinct, Lloyd Morgan (1896, p. 166) describes two general kinds of imitation: instinctive imitation and intelligent or voluntary imitation. The examples he provides of intelligent imitation mostly involve reproducing sounds-a child copies words used by his companions, a mockingbird imitates the songs of 32 other bird species, a jay imitates the neighing of a horse, and so on. In fact, most of the examples of "imitation proper" that Morgan provides consist of birds reproducing the sounds of other species. Similarly, Romanes (1884) focuses almost exclusively on reports of birds imitating songs, music, and speech in his discussion of imitation. These classic portrayals of vocal reproductions as providing the best and clearest examples of imitation stand in stark contrast to current psychological discussions of imitation, which often classify examples such as those given by Romanes and Morgan as non-imitative performances that merely resemble actual imitation (Byrne, 2002;Heyes, 1996). When did phenomena that were once considered archetypal examples of voluntary imitation transform into a footnote of modern cognitive theories? Was some discovery made that fundamentally changed our scientific understanding of the processes underlying vocal imitation? Have psychologists or biologists succeeded in explaining what vocal imitation is and how it works to the point where little can be gained from further study? Or, have theoretical assumptions led scientists to underestimate the cognitive mechanisms required for an individual to be able to flexibly imitate sounds?In the present article, we attempt to identify what exactly vocal imitation entails, and to assess whether current explanatory fr...

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Section: Is Vocal Imitation An Outcome Of Instrumental Conditioning?mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Imitating Sounds: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Vocal Imitation

Mercado¹,

Mantell²,

Pfordresher³

2014

CCBR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…dreatos, & Reeve, 1991;Steinman, 1970a), and developmentally delayed children (Baer, Peterson, & Sherman, 1967;Garca, Baer, & Firestone, 1971;Lovaas, Berberich, Perloff, & Schaeffer, 1966). Baer and Deguchi (1985) described generalized imitation as a functional response class.…”

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confidence: 99%

Generalized Imitation and Response‐class Formation in Children With Autism

Young

Krantz

McClannahan

et al. 1994

J of App Behav Analysis

Self Cite

108

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An experimental analysis ofimitation was conducted to examine the influence ofresponse topography on generalization of imitation across three response types. Four children with autism were presented with both reinforced training trials and nonreinforced probe trials of models from vocal, toy-play, and pantomime response types. The probe trials were used to examine generalization within each response type. A multiple baseline design was used to analyze percentage of matching and nonmatching responses to models across response types. This study, the first to analyze imitative response classes in children with autism, showed that imitation generalized from reinforced training models to nonreinforced probe models within a response type, but it did not generalize across response types. Thus, functional response dasses determined by topographical boundaries were exhibited within generalized imitation.DESCRIPTORS: generalized imitation, vocal responding, toy play, autistic children, response dasses Generalized imitation refers to a dass of responses that temporally follow and are topographically similar to behavior modeled by another person. Because of its possible role in social behavior and language development, imitation has received considerable attention in the research literature. Experimental analyses of imitation have been conducted with normally developing children and in-

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“…Imagine, for example, a child learning to imitate several instances of behavior modeled by a puppet, such as jumping, skipping, and clapping. If a novel behavior is then produced by the puppet (e.g., sitting), the child may imitate this behavior despite the fact that this particular imitative response was never reinforced (e.g., Poulson, ' Kymissis, Reeve, Andreatos, & Reeve, 1991). The operant class is generalized, therefore, in that the class contains imitative responses in general and not just those that have been differentially reinforced.…”

Section: General Overarching or Higher-order Operant Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Complex Behavior: Two Perspectives on the Concept Of Generalized Operant Classes

Barnes‐Holmes

2000

Psychol Rec

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The concept of generalized, higher-order, or overarching operant classes has been invoked by a number of researchers when dealing with complex behavior. For example, identity matching, generalized imitation, and relational framing all rest firmly on this concept. However, if the use of the term generalized (or higher-order/overarching) is to carry any explanatory value it needs to be clearly defined. The current article examines two approaches to clarifying this definition. The first approach suggests that generalized operants may be defined in terms of the different orders of contingencies involved, relative to nongeneralized operants, but fails to specify the exact nature of these different orders of contingencies. The second approach suggests that the term generalized should be used in a nontechnical way to emphasize that certain operant classes can only be specified in purely functional terms. This nontechnical definition appears to circumvent some of the thorny problems that arise in attempting to define generalized operants in terms of different orders of contingencies. However, other issues are raised by the latter, nontechnical definition of the generalized operant when it is applied to complex human behavior. These issues are examined and are found to be largely unproblematic.The concept of a generalized (higher-order or overarching) operant class has been called upon by several researchers as a means of interpreting or explaining some types of complex behavior (e.g

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Generalized vocal imitation in infants

Cited by 63 publications

References 8 publications

Imitating Sounds: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Vocal Imitation

Imitating Sounds: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Vocal Imitation

Generalized Imitation and Response‐class Formation in Children With Autism

Explaining Complex Behavior: Two Perspectives on the Concept Of Generalized Operant Classes

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