Question: When conducting imitation training, the requirement of formal similarity refers to A) When a model serves as the stimulus to be imitated, B) The immediacy of the imitated response, C) The model and behavior needing to be physically identical, or D) The imitative response needs to be solely controlled by the model.
Answer: C) The model and behavior needing to be physically identical.
Imitation is the foundation of all learning. Without the ability to imitate, people will have a very hard time acquiring new skills. When you’re looking at imitation training, you’re looking for four defining features:
- Formal similarity. This means that the model and the behavior must physically look alike and be in the same sense mode, whether that be physical or vocal.
- There must be a model. This is the stimulus that is being imitated, and imitation is the behavior of imitating that model, that stimulus.
- Immediacy. An imitative behavior must immediately follow the model within a few seconds. If the model response is not immediate, it’s not imitation.
- There must be a controlled relation. And what that means is that the model must be the controlling variable for the imitative behavior, meaning only the actual model that you present can control the response, and not any other SD or OR cue that’s unrelated.