This study was designed to investigate some features of the
stimulus in observational learning which might be used to make a
distinction between imitation and identification on an experimental
level. The effective stimulus in imitation was considered to be the
behavioral task of the model, or "the specific behavioral event"
whereas in identification it was defined as general personality characteristics such as status, goodness, or intelligence which are generalized over time from numerous imitative habits to elicit a more global
long-term response. On a pre-test, six year olds and nine year olds
were shown two symbolic models simultaneously (an imitation model and
an identification model) and were asked to perform the task that the
models had done (color a picture) to assess their tendency towards
similarity to one or the other (by copying one model's picture more
than the other); that is, to attempt to identify with or to imitate
the models. During the experimental phase, each of the two age groups
were divided in to two experimental treatment groups. For one experimental group the effective stimulus in the identification model was
emphasized and for the other the effective stimulus in the imitation
model was emphasized. It was predicted that such a procedure would
alter or strengthen the predominant response. Later, a post-test was
administered to see if the alteration or strengthening of the response
was stable or if it had occurred only during the experimental phase,
For the most part, it was found that six year olds imitated
while nine year olds identified in the pre-test. However, the experimental manipulations seemed to be most effective with the six year olds. As well, the effective stimuli used to differentiate identification and imitation had a significant effect on the children throughout the study, confirming the position that the two responses could he differentiated on the basis of the stimuli which evoke them.
Some methological problems in carrying out observational
learning studies are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41875 |
| Date | January 1970 |
| Creators | Young, Jean Carol |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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