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Citations
Word Doc Link:
http://mrochsner.com/popejohn/ASU/banduracitation2.doc
Albert Bandura. (n.d.) Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http://social.jrank.org/pages/74/Bandura-Albert-1925.html
http://mrochsner.com/popejohn/ASU/banduracitation2.doc
Albert Bandura. (n.d.) Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http://social.jrank.org/pages/74/Bandura-Albert-1925.html
Albert Bandura and self-efficacy theory. (2007) Retreived February 2, 2008, from http://personalitypedagogy.arcadia.edu/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Topics.AlbertBanduraA dSelf-EfficacyTheory
Bandura’s social cognitive theory: an introduction. (n.d.) Retrieved February 5, 2008 from http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2953790276071699877
Bobo doll experiment. (n.d.) Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http://academic.evergreen.edu/h/hiljus01/bobo.htm
Eine kurze Biographie über Albert Bandura. Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/paedagogik/Seminare/moeller02/04tvgewalt/BioAlbert.html
Folkowa art.pl. Retreived February 3, 2008 fromhttp://www.folkowa.art.pl/index.php?opcja=zespoly&&act=show&&lang=pl&&aid=1356
Fowler, Laurie. AVirtual Interview with Albert Bandura. (n.d.) Retrieved February 5, 2008, from http://www.lauriefowler.com/bandura.html
Holah.co.uk psychology. Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http://www.holah.karoo.net/bandurastudy.htm
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McGraw Hill: social learning theory of Albert Bandura. (n.d.) Retrieved February 4, 2008 from http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/comm/bandur-s.mhtml
Personality Theories: Albert Bandura. (n.d.) Retrieved February 5, 2008 from
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html
Social cognitive theory. (n.d.) Retrieved February 3, 2008 from http://www.angelfire.com/psy/psychoflearning/SocialCogTheory.html
Standford News Service. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/june7/bing-060706.html
Television Picture. Retrieved February 5, 2008 from http://www.case.hu-berlin.de/cm/cmKat/tv.jpg
Thinkexist.com quotations. (n.d.) Retrieved February 4, 2008 from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/albert_bandura/
YouTube. Albert Bandura: 2007 Everett Rogers colloquium. (n.d.) Retrieved February 3, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjIbKaSXM3A
YouTube: Bandura (1965) bobo doll on T.V. (n.d.) Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeE_Ymzc1rE
YouTube: pac man 7-up commercial (2007). Retrieved February 5, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsVhlyXdX3w
195 comments:
I do think children are watching and modeling after the adults in their lives. As a parent & a teacher, I take this role seriously, and try to model strong, moral, character.
Examples: swearing, reverence during prayer, hitting in retaliation, etc.
Children are a reflection of their parents. What children see as acceptable behavior by adults translates to acceptable behavior for children. "Sideways comments", body language that shows attitude, and taking personal responsibility are some manor ism children pick up from the adults around them. These may seem more passive aggressive, but just a harmful to others/ themselves.
I've seen this time and time again. Kids mimick me all the time. I hear them saying things that I say, or hear their parent's voice in their words.
I've seen this time and time again. Kids mimic me all the time. I hear them saying things that I say, or hear their parent's voice in their words.
Ooops! I misspelled mimic in previous post! Sorry!
I guess the most important thing to realize is that not only are we examples to kids but so are everything they are exposed to which includes video games and TV. That is kind of scary when you think of all the things that are TV these days. No wonder kids act so bad.
There is such a tightrope-walking balance between your example as a parent and/or teacher and peer pressure. I try very hard to speak gently to my students, laugh with them, and stay on top of what they're reading and talking about (I'm a school librarian), which means reading lots of vampire books and watching anime movies! I also speak very firmly about critical thinking when it comes to using the Internet to find information. I hope this part sticks with them.
I saw this time and time again when I was a kindergarten teacher. Children will mimic adults all the time while at play! Sometimes it's funny but other times....
I work in a day care and I've found that children are always imitating what they see. Children love to role play while they are in housekeeping and even give each other roles of mother, father, etc. They are capable of portraying these parts and always do so in their own way. Many times they play these parts based on what they see at home. Even as young as one year old, I have noticed that our students are capable of imitation. They love imitating my actions or pretending they are animals. Parents and teachers should definitely be aware of this.
I know that my kids will often imitate what they see me or their dad do. For example, my husband sometimes doesn't use appropriate language in front of my young son. And, of course, my son imitates him....usually at the most embarrassing moments (like when my mother-in-law is around.) We need to learn to set a good example for our kids in everything that we do.
This is Kate again. I just wanted to give an example that I thought about from just last week. I was on playground duty and I noticed some kids were pushing and shoving others. I called them over and they said, "Oh we're just playing American Gladitors." I went to look it up on TV and sure enough the kids were just doing what they had seen on TV. Scary.
I have a unique opportunity in the fact that I teach several levels of classes and I see several different teachers styles and behaviors. I can tell you first hand that what the teachers says and does the students say and do!!! It doesn't matter if we are talking about a Kindergaten student or a junior high student. If a teacher is disorgnaized, the student is disorganized. If the teacher is lazy, the student is lazy It is as simple as that!!
I think children do a lot of imitating what they see others doing. They are very reflective of the environment that surrounds them every day.
It's the old adage, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." People mimic others. We're most cognizant of it in younger children, say ages 6 and under. They are such sponges that they soak up almost everything they see and attempt to mimic it. Of course, we know the aping does not stop at age 6. It is so painfully visual in the children of abusers. They learn to emulate the bad behavior and the cycle of abuse continues through generations.
Children mirror actions of their parents even when we don't think they are hearing or observing us. My daughter when she was 3 years old picked up her play phone and made a call to a pretend patient because that is what I do in my profession as a home health nurse. It made me realize how much I was on the cell phone and helped me modify my work and home life.
I teach Religious Education to a group of 2nd graders. I can definitely see a tendency for them to imitate what the other kids are doing. It can be around something as simple as what coloring utensil to use.
I recently heard a story about this little boy whose family attends Mass regularly. It seems that this kid has got the whole priest routine down that he can imitate the entire Liturgy of the Eucharist at breakfast. Adorable!
Children definitely imitate what they observe. I see this day after day in my job. Part of the reason for placing special needs students in classrooms with typical students is the hope that they will learn to imitate "typical" behavior.
Imitation is how all children learn to walk, talk, feed themselves, etc. It should come as no surprise that they will also imitate undesirable behavior. In my classroom we hope that the children will observe us (the adults in the room) reading, writing and speaking correctly and try to imitate us.
When I saw my children reflect my attitudes, I made efforts to improve my efforts. As a grandparent, I see my children repeat some of words, and attitudes with their children. My daughter raises her voice too often with her children, I really wish I wouldn't have done that!
When I teach in Kindergarden or first grade I have noticed when one student runs to hug me when I come in the classroom, inmediatly
I have 24 more students running towards me.
We as parents are most definitely the most important role model in a child's life. What we demonstrate, is what they learn, or so they believe it is acceptable. Effective parents give their children the capacity for love, joy, responsibility, and most of all, fullfilment. If a parent is not confident and happy, children will most definitely live and absorb the same. When parenting is effective, the adult(s) and child/children benefit the role modeling, thus becoming more confident & successful in life.
MODEL, MODEL, MODEL!!!! As a representative of schools, I am always under the eyes of the public, even if my salary or job hours are done. As educators, we need to remain people of character and model the positivity of our lives and profession.
yes, I agree. Children often wtch adults. At school often we hear children repeat statements or attitudes they hear from home.
Both a frightening and promising demonstration of the powerful impact models play in the lives of young (and old) learners.
Monkey see, Monkey do!
I would hope that students, teachers (and professors) would learn and emulate positive teaching behaviors and techniques.
I love to go to one particular classroom in our school where the kids consistently encourage each other, compliment each other, and give and take constructive criticism in a positive way. This teacher has done such a good job of modeling civil behavior that her students live it and breathe it now.
I think that children DO what the see from birth. I believe modeling appropriate behaviors is one of the MOST powerful tools that teachers - adults in general - have to help educate our children. It is our moral responsibility to model good things for our kids and each other.
when the day was too cold to go outside I would take the class (of 40 second graders!!) into another part of the building where the "big" kids were to use their bathrooms. Because of the quietness and order in our classroom these children weren't even heard in the hall waiting to use the bathroom
A recent example of a child modeling the behavior they have observed in an adult was my 17 year old son planning a Valentine's Day surprise for his girlfriend. He set up a surprise similar to what my husband did for me a few years ago. My son prepared healthy snacks like cheese and crackers, grapes, and cherries, put root beer in crystal champagne glasses, and set a table with a table cloth on the roof of our apartment building for sunset. This is exactly a surprise my husband planned for me (except we had champagne!) It is so gratifying to see our children model positive behavior!
I'm not a parent, teacher or someone who works with kids. However, I think that all people like to imitate what they see. Child or not. Why do people wear ballcaps backwards...not because it is practical or attractive, but others have done it so it must be all right.
However, it would be interesting to know what the kids were thinking...is this right or wrong...when doing the act. What if the clown were a puppy? Or a sibling (wait, strike that as I did beat up my sister)? Would the kids have done the same? Would they have done it and know if it were good or bad?
I certainly agree that children model the behavior that is shown to them by many different individuals. My 2 year old daughter tries mimic her 4 year old cousin all the time. She learns words, good and bad, from her as well as actions. Obviously, the most influential person in a young child's life is his or her parents. We must be good role models for our children to learn from. It really is true: they soak everything you do up like a sponge!
I try to immitate my children...they had a wonderful parent-----------> me!
Today I'm going yesterday
I'm moving very fast
As I'm putting off
The future for the past
When it's time to say goodnight
I'll compose a note to say
That I'll see you all tomorrow
Which of course will be today
captureasmile
I have a one year onld child and he immitates everything that I do right now. Also, everything that I say. I see in his development that he is becoming a reflection of the people that he is around the most. Like myself and his Grandma.
Where else will children copy something but form us, adults, whatever you show them most especially repeated actions will mostly affect how they think, and eventually how they act. If you expose them to good things most likely they will appreciate doing such kind acts. OF course they will have their own way of thinking when they grow up but what about the "foundations" if the foundation is strong, then you are building a tough kid in a sense that if they grew up with the right thinking through good models, then they most likely have that same attitude.
I used to work at the pre-school at my high school. The kids seriously did the funniest things. One day, for snack the teacher gave out some cereal, and one of the little girls goes, "My mom only buys Special K, we have to keep our figures." Also, there was this silly little boy named Ethan, and he was relatively wild compared to most boys. His mom came to pick him up early during free time, and he was playing with some toy dinosaurs. He didn't want to leave, so his mother was kind of yelling at him. After 3 minutes of bickering, Ethan says (very seriously), "I'm not going to have this discussion with you right now." I was laughing so hard. I don't think Ethan's mom realized how funny it was until the adults started laughing. He must have heard that from his parents because that is definitely not typical 4 year old language. The kids said funny things pretty much on a daily basis in that class!
I actually do not work with children, nor am I a parent, but I have a lot of small children in my family and I have often observed them imitate others. I have a cousin who is 7 years old now and it is actually quite amusing to see how she imitates everything her mother does. If her mother is putting on lipstick she will too, but it is not neccessarily at the same time she has to copy the behavior you can find her style herself in front of the mirror the same way her mother does, even when her mother is not doing that at the moment. I also find that she seems to imitate her older sister, but more in the manner she speaks or the words she uses.
I have been a dance teacher for a number of years now and I see children imitating adults on a daily basis. I will be leading them in a stretch combination and when they get the chance to teach themselves they will do the exact same exercises and even speak in the same tone that I use when I am explaining things. I think this is something that we all can learn from because we do need to watch what he say and how we act around those who are younger than us.
Children are modeling what they watch for sure. If the father grows up a gangster, the child grows up a gangster. Usually it runs in the family, but not in all cases. A good example is with athletes, so many basketball players dads were aslso basketball players.
I am a father of a 3 year old daughter, who is entering the copying stage full force. Now more than ever, we have to watch everything we (my wife and I) do and say. I wear my baseball cap backwards, she must wear it backwards as well. She has watched my wife put on make-up, so with a small make-up brush, she’ll brush her cheeks and eyelids. She puts on my wife’s high heel shoes and will go stand in front of the mirror and look at herself. She’ll grab one my neck ties and put it around her neck. I was sitting at the table one night doing some work while my daughter was coloring. Well, I had put my pen on my ear, and she tried doing the exact same thing with her crayon. Sometimes when I sit on the couch I’ll put both hands behind my head. She came and sat next me, and put her hands behind her head like me – it made me laugh! I feel like I could go on and on, but yes, I have definitely noticed how often my child imitates.
I am not a parent or teacher but I do have 4 nieces and nephews who are utterly adorable and do imitate words and actions that they see adults engaging in. For instance, my niece will watch my sister put on her make-up and then when she's playing dress up she will imitate putting on make-up by pouting her lips or putting blush on her cheek bones. My nephews are younger so they will often imitate their sister. For instance, when my niece started kindergarten, she came home with her first books to read that had simple words and phrases. She would read the book every night with my sister and just by listening, my nephew picked up on the words and phrases and was able to memorize the book and read it back all by himself and he is only 3 years old. He saw his sister doing homework and he was upset that he couldn't go to school yet so he started imitating things that she was doing at school such as homework.
I didn't grow up with children in my home (being an only child), but right now I am working as a tutor for kindergartners at an elementary school. They always copy each other when I work with them in groups. Also, they copy their teacher quite a bit. For example, she uses the word "friend" a lot, and I have heard them say, "Hey friend!" or "Be quiet friends!"
Children are extremely impressionable, especially when it comes to their role models. Children will often use the same behaviors to express themselves as their parents. For example: I have see numerous children play as if they were proceeding to work just like their parents do. They will attempt to wear the same cloths and use the same tool their role model does. Another example would be when children play with fake money and act as if they were running a cash register. Both of these examples show that children imitate behaviors which were not previously present in their natural behavior reservoir.
I have a 10 month old neice and she deffinitely immitates. Just recently I started making funny noises by putting my lips toghether, well now every time I do this she tries to immitate me. Of coarse she can't make the exact sound that I do but she tries and everytime I make this sound she tries to do it.
My daughter who is 10 months old always smiles back at me when I smile at her. She also makes similar humming noises whenever i hum a tune or song. My daughter also recently just started to wave bye-bye whenever she sees me wave good bye. Another cute one is where she see's me smell a shirt to see if i need to see if it's dirty and she will make the same exact face and the same exact sniffing sound that i do.
I am a dance teacher and have taught children. They totally imitated me and other leader students in the class. For example, I point my toes and they point their toes. One girl does really well with skips, other want to do really well with skips. I also have a niece who says things that she heard their older siblings and parents say. For example, my niece said “whatever” twice the other day. She is only 3 years old. Her Mom says whatever a lot.
I am a student so I can't really answer as a parent or a teacher but I can answer as an older brother. My younger brother is about one and half years below my age. I will often times notice that he will do certain things or say certain things that I do as a form of imitation. For example, when I was in high school I decided to grow my hair out to really long lengths. This was something really rare in our family and it was the first time either my brother or I had decided to grow our hair out. About 6 months later I noticed that my brother was now doing the same and he has not cut his hair short since (although I have so it may just be a matter of time before he gets his hair cut short again.)
I do not work with children, but I have observed my nieces act completely out of control when my sister gets mad about something. Usually when my sister gets mad it's typical for her to start yelling and throwing things to relieve her stress. Until now, I never really paid attention that my nieces have picked up that same form of anger without really knowing what has made them mad. They may be fighting over a particular toy, and when one of them gets mad and refuses to share, the other sister usually goes into a fit of hysteria, starts crying, and then starts throwing other toys. I really thought they were just poorly behaved children. Now I can see that they are copying my sisters poor behavior as an adult. I think that my nieces will have the same unresolved anger issues my sister does because they have learned this technique for getting what they want.
When I was around 21-22 I lived with a friend who had a 3 year old daughter. Living with them helped me understand how to properly parent children. I found that every time my friend would get angry about something and curse or hit something her daughter would repeat the action, not at the exact time, but when she was upset and didn't understand why she was getting in trouble for it when she watched her mother do it and nothing bad happened to her. We too often forget children are very easily manipulated into doing what they see. Think before you act! When children are around make sure you explain to them whether the behavior you just exhibited is acceptable or unacceptable. Treating them as an adult and explaining yourself will definite help them understand their behavior.
I am not a parent or a teacher, but I have a friend who has a 5 year old daughter and a husband. The husband relies 100% on my firend for EVERYTHING. He has her pick out his clothes, cook his meals, do his laundry, pick up the house, do the lawn work etc. while he plays on the computer or watches TV. Now her 5 year old daughter is starting to take advantage of her mother the same way that the father does. She relies on her mother for everything as well, some things a 5 years old should rely on a mother for , but others such as taking off her shirt or putting on her shoes she should beable to do on her own. The 5 year old has observed that if the father doesn't want to do something then he doesn; have to, the mother will do it FOR him. Now the 5 year old is starting to imiatte that behaviour.
Absolutely - I am the mother of 3 and not a day goes by that I don't see myself and my husband in the little things they do. For example, my husband and I are very demonstrative (with the kids and with each other) - always hugging, kissing hello, kissing goodbye, etc. Our children have picked up on this and whenever they visit relatives, it comes natural to them to give a hug and a kiss. Also, my husband and I believe in treating people with kindness, and I see that in my children when they hold a door open for someone, or if someone drops something, they'll pick it up for them, etc. Children aren't born with this knowledge, they learn it and the people they're going to learn it from are the ones who raise them - whether it be parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.
The best observation that I can make is that of a parent. I have a soon to be six year old boy who will imitate anything that he sees on the television. This is especially true when it comes to cartoons. He will jump through the air pretending to be any of the super heros he sees and is extremely dissapointed when he realizes that he is not actually capable of flying. In addition to the television he also mimics my manerisms. It is liking looking into a tiny mirror and reailzing taht some of the actions you make as an adult really do effect (directly) your children.
I see the imitation going on in my little nephews and nieces all the time! Just tonight when I got home from class my 4 year old nephew Cooper and 5 year old Chase were outside. Chase has an actual bike with training wheels so then Cooper saw Chase riding around on it so he went and got one of those tricycle things and started to pedal on it and followed Chase around. It was starting to get dark out and Chase got his jacket on so then Cooper wanted to get his jacket on too. My 18 month old niece learned to imitate her dad with a fighting stance so now when any of us get her attention and put our arms up as if to fight/box she puts hers up too.
I am not a parent, or a teacher, but I have been around children many times and yes they do imitate others. I was at my friend's home babysitting. Her house was a mess so while the children were watching TV, I started to clean around. At one point I sat down and watch TV and to my surprise her younger son went on and start putting toys away and playing with the vacuum. When I asked what he was doing, he said that he wants to vacuum. Later on I told my friend about this and she said the he ever touched that vacuum before and had not idea how to use it. He was just doing what I was doing. He observed me and now was imitating me.I also noticed that they tended to imitate one another and me while we were playing games. If one made a move that brought him points, the other two were trying to imitate the same behavior in order to get the points as well. Also, one will take a toy and play with it in a certain way and the other two would try to do the same. It is scary how they learned by imitating from one another the good behaviors as well as the bad behaviors.
Yes...children definitely imitate what they see. I am a nanny and I work with a 14 month old little girl every day. When I started she was just 5 months old so I have been around for a lot of her development so far. When I put on lip gloss she wants to do it too. When I am eating something, she wants it. And for the past month she has wanted to use a fork while eating just because she sees me using one too. She definitely responds to how I am acting and tries to imitate what I do...and it is the same with her older brother. She wants to do whatever he is doing. The other day he got down on the floor and patted his hand on the floor to get the dog to come. Sure enough she got down on the floor and did the same thing! Which exactly why we need to be very aware of how we act in front of children.
While I am not a parent or teacher, I am an aunt of 2 3 years olds who are currently in the learning phase of life where imitation is something they are constantly doing. My nephew Logan, will follow his dad, my brother, around the house all evening, watching what he does, then if my brother sits down to eat or play a game, Logan will sit right down next to him and do the same thing. As my brother plays guitar hero, Logan will strum along with him on his own guitar. While it is cute to watch, we have also learn that we have to be careful. My brother will get very wrapped up in what he is doing and every once in a while a bad word will come out, Logan won't repeat it then but a few days later if something disapoints him, the words he heard daddy say come out. While he doesn't know the extent of the word, he does understand the context of which they are used.
I strongly believe that children imitate what they see. I have learned through child development classes that even after beong only a couple months old babies already have the capabilities to imitate their caregivers. Being a mother, I also learn first hand and see that children truly do imitate. My son, who is 14 months old copies any action he sees us do. It is very easy to teach him how to do certain things like sticking out his tongue, giving us high-fives, pointing, saying ah! That is why at this point, even though he is so young, me and my husband are trying to demonstrate good behavior and skills in front of him. I am afraid of being the reason why my child misbehaves.
I am none of these things, and currently have no interaction with children, but I have noticed in other children, as well as myself as a child, and my little sister as a child that of course children imitate that which they see.
I know a child that was very big on High School Musical. After seeing the movie she would dance and sing, and act out as the characters. I am sure this is why the Musical has done so well. She would make everyone watch her watch the original movie, and not only would she participate herself, but she would also try and get everyone else involved in the act as well, because this was so important to her.
A general example I can think of is looking at girls, they will dress up in their mother’s clothes and put on make-up to feel more grown up. They act out what they see their mother doing every day, and enjoy being like her as much as they can.
I am neither a parent nor a teacher, but I do have extensive babysitting under my belt and can absolutely see imitation in young children. Like mentioned above, High School Musical is the "it" thing right now for children (and Hannah Montana), and I see the merchandise for these (I would call) entities everywhere. Specifically, I've seen and heard my niece sing and dance around the house, and she even dressed-up like one of the characters (Sharpay) for Halloween. Also, I went to a Britney Spears concert a number of years ago (with no shame, thank you very much), and cannot tell you how many little girls, I'm talking like 5-8 years old dressed like Britney. Specifically, I will never forget a little girl (maybe age 6) whose hair was pulled so tightly in a high ponytail, I think her face is still sore to this day! She also had many different hair pieces in her ponytail, to have crimped and straight and curly hair on her head! (Actually, it may have been her own hair, but it was quite long.) She had on a green sequin tube top and black pleather pants (similar to the outfit in Britney's "(You) Drive Me Crazy (Remix)" music video, and she looked silly in my opinion. (Honestly, a 6-year-old in a tube top - what the heck for?!) What is more, she was covered in body glitter from head to toe! When she was making her way to her seat, she was dancing and singing (that part I thought was cute). I most definitely think she was mirroring what she had seen Britney do on TV and in music videos. We absolutely learn from what we see and act accordingly.
I am a parent of a two year old girl and she constantly amazes me with her actions. She is so observant. She watches a television show on the weekdays called, “Ni-hao Kailan”. The main character Kailan teaches her friends and the audience watching how to speak Chinese. My daughter had become so familiar with this show, that often she’ll walk around the house acting like Kailan and speak in Chinese. Specifically, my daughter can count in Mandarin (Chinese Dialect). Other times, I watch her and she plays with her dolls and acts out playing a mother to a baby. She comes up to me and says, “look at my baby”. She’ll do certain things, that I would do to her, such as feed her a bottle or imitate feeding her a snack.
I do not work with children but have noticed that children often imitate others. Some of my friend's children are a direct reflection of their parents. A good example is swearing. When children hear their parents swear they often do the same thing. It gets even worse when they are reinforced for doing so because their parents laugh at the same time they are scolding the child. Also, younger siblings tend to imitate the behaviors of their older siblings. My younger brother used to follow me around, play with my toys and imitate my behavior when we were children.
I agree that children model the behavior they observe. For example, my daughter is 3 months old and she has learned to stick out her tongue when I stick out mine and also to pucker her lips for a kiss when I pucker mine. Another example I have learned through watching Super Nanny, children often yell and scream because that is how there parents discipline them when they are angry. How can you tell them is is wrong to yell when you are yelling?
While I have rarely worked with children, I have noticed a few things about imitation when I have to watch them. If I feign interest in something like a children's movie or a children's toy, the child is more likely to watch or be excited. I think what is occurring here is that they see that I'm being reinforced (or that it appears I am being reinforced for a behavior), and then they attempt to imitate and find that they are indeed reinforced by imitating that behavior.
I have a ten yr. old cousin that does a lot of imitating on a daily basis. She is a very inquisitive child and watches my every move. This is her way of learning how to do things around the house. She see me cooking dinner and will comment on things that I am doing and then the next time I cook that meal she will want to help or say I remember last time you put this in it or that and will repeat my actions. I have noticed that she says things the same way that I say them and that she makes some of the same gestures that I make. All of this happens because she is observant and it is easier to pick up how to do things if you watch someone else as opposed to learning on your own through trial and error.
As a mother I can see that my kids are a reflection from me and my husband. They are repeating all the words that I am using in my conversations and showing me the attitude that I am giving them sometimes.So, I am trying to be good role model for them. My son is 6yaers old, and he wanted some video games, but i am so scared that those video games are going to be a bad model for him.For example when we are using bad language, or we are not honest in our behavior or in our conversation, or we are not keeping our promises, these are some of the signs that we are not a good role model
Yes. When my daughter was very first born I would get up with her in the middle of the night so my wife could sleep. I became interested in this little tiny baby and we sit her up facing me and I would stick my tongue out just a little bit. She would look at me do it for a while. She would stare intently and then all of the sudden her little tongue would poke out of her mouth.
I also have a cousin who’s father curses more than anyone I have ever met. By the time my cousin was 8 years old he was cursing more than a full fledged member of a biker gang.
As the parent of a two year old, I can confidently say that children will imitate almost everything. Since becoming a parent I have become extremely cautious about the behaviors and language that I engage in. The bigger challenge is getting other people (family, friends etc...) to recognize the impact they have on my son as well.
The two biggest challenges I have concering Carson's imitation include the language that he picks up and learning aggressive behaviors from others. Being two he is hardly aware of the connotations behind a cuss word and does not understand why his uncle can say something but he can't. He also has yet to understand the difference between roughhousing with one of his uncles who is considerably larger than him vs. someone his own size.
The difficulty I have with these behaviors is that although I do not reinforce them, I know that others do through laughter and attention - particularly when I'm not around. People do not realize the truth in the statement that it takes a community to raise a child. That being said, I wish people were more aware of the effect their language and behavior has on those who are watching.
I think we strongly influence children and the decisions they make. We have all heard it before, that we are role models, meaning that someone is following our behavior. Children watch and observe, and since we are the superior, they feel as if they do as we do, they are in the right. Unfortunately, there have been a few situations in which I swore in front of my younger sibling years ago, and she ended up repeating what I said minutes later to my mother!
I am a mother of two, my oldest is 19 and a boy and my youngest is a ten-year-old girl. My son has always been a leader not a follower and so has my daughter, until recently. I have noticed recently that she wants to wear what her favorite actresses from Disney channel are wearing, the clothes, the jewelry and the hair. We will be at the store and she just has to have this shirt or these earrings because Demi or Selena have them. About a year ago we were watching the movie, The Devil Wears Prada and half way through the movie she went into her room and changed her clothes, put jewelry on, brushed her hair and got into my shoes and makeup. So, yes I very much see how children imitate others. All these little girls out there wanting to be Hananah Montana and all these little boys wanting to be their favorite wrestling stars. I see my friends boys wrestling each other all the time, pretending to be some wrestler. Sometimes even getting hurt in the process. That is why it is the responsibility of the parents, teachers or anyone else that works with children to be good role models for our children.
Children are always imitating what they see. I work at a local gym's kids club and spend everyday with children. When I read this question one particular example came to memory immediately. A 5 year old little girl that comes to the club daily always wants to play house. Yesterday at work I carefully observed her playing mommy. As I watched she was bossing all of her "children" around, finally I had enough of watching her bossing the other kids around I told her to be nice, she responded "i'm the mommy, im supposed to be the boss," when her mom came to pick her and her sister up, I watched to see if this was a made up or imitated behavior, and to my suprise she was imitating what her mom does. Her mom was being extremely bossy to both the little girl and the sister.
Children, especially are very impressionable and will often imitate others. The most important thing I learned in my Classroom Management class is that students will often treat their teacher how the teacher treats them. For example, I observed a high school teacher who always had students misbehave in her classroom (i.e. talking back to the teacher, not listening, etc.). I also observed the teacher’s characteristics and how she treated her students. Well it wasn’t surprising that she was very sarcastic, nagged, and also talked back to her students. I believe the reason why her students didn’t respect her is because she didn’t respect them.
I am hardly around children, but I do have a friend that has a child and a lot of the things she says and does are definitely imitations of what her parents do. For example, if she cusses or responds to something that doesn't make sense, we know she's imitating someone else because it's out of the ordinary for her.
I do beleive that children imitate others. They especially imitate people who they look up to or people that have a large influence on their lives. An example is parents, older siblings, teachers, coaches, and movie stars. I have a young neice around 5 years old. One day I was typing a report and she jumped on the computer while I was using the restroom and she deleted a portion of the paper. After I discovered what she did I used the phrase "damn it" out of frustration. Later on when my sister came to pick her up she didn't want to go and used the same phrase because she was upset about leaving. I quickly apologized to my sister and explained why she used those words. Needless to say my sister was not to happy with her dausghters new vocabulary.
I do not have children and I am not a teacher, but I have seen how children imitate what they see on T.V. I recently spent some time with my eleven year old niece who is now a huge fan of wrestling. I allowed her to watch a wrestling program and not more than five minutes after the show had begun, I noticed that she was much more aggressive. The tone of her voice matched the tone of one of the wrestlers who was telling their opponent what he was going to do to him. My niece’s brother then came into the room and she tried to imitate the wrestler by putting my nephew in a "head lock". Her mother came in the room and scolded her for what she was doing and told me that the kids were not allowed to watch wrestling without her being in the room to explain the show to them. Their mother then sat down and started to explain that what the children were seeing was a form of entertainment and that it should not be performed at home. Immediately after their mother explained this, the aggressive behavior that my niece once displayed disappeared. It is very true that the behavior of a live image trumps the behavior of people on television.
I do not work with children but my sister is a teacher. In my general observation of children they do often imitate each other. Usually its just one really ongoing kid acting out an original scene from the latest cartoon. Once the initial model is created by this child then it's replicated by there peers. Let's look at the cartoon spongebob squarepants. My 7 year old nephew will watch the program and then act out the scene followed by my 3 year old niece that will imitate her brother to the tee.
I do see children imitating bad behavior and then reinforced. I've seen children gang up on another and then reinforce each others behavior because in the end if two gang up on one they can both get the reinforcement of whatever they were trying to take from the other child. I think as parents it is difficult to know how in what ways we are reinforcing our children. Who knew the spanking would cause our kids to be more violent. Or using loud language would cause our children to yell at others. It seems almost like an exact science to punish bad behavior and reward good behavior while not accidentally reinforcing any other side effect behaviors.
I used to work at a preschool as a teacher’s assistant for 3-4 year olds. I think that kids definitely learn a lot of their behaviors from imitating others (which can be good or bad). For example, after play-time, we would encourage the children to engage in clean-up-time. The TAs would help clean certain areas of the class. Usually I ended up in the library section and would put a book or two away and I think that after seeing me do this many of the kids caught on and started doing this themselves. When I saw this behavior I would tell the children “thank you” and other encouraging comments. Some of the other children would see these children putting books away and would then start to help. By the end of the year, most of the children would start cleaning up right away when play-time was over (although of course there would always been one or two that wanted to keep playing). Unfortunately, children can also learn bad behaviors by watching others. For example, one kid in particular knew some curse words and would use them when he got really upset. The first time I saw this I was really shocked because he was so young. A few of the other kids had heard him and starting using some of those words as well.
? Absolutely, children imitate others. I recently made a trip to CA to visit my son and his family. He has a 19-month-old named Tyler, which imitates his dad even when he is not in the room.
Will watching TV my son always sit on the floor with his back against the sofa and a pillow behind him. Tyler will do the exact same thing, even when his dad is not there to model the behavior at that time.
When my son is on the phone, Tyler will put whatever is in his hand to his ear and pretend to talk also. Each behavior his father does Tyler will do. If he stand up and walk to another room Tyler will stand up and walk to the room with him, if my son takes off his shoes and sock
Tyler will take off his shoe and sock. It is really funny, lastly when my son speaks to his wife , there is Tyler right at his side repeating everything his dad say , adding hand gesture and facial expresses too.
Just yesterday I was with my friends 2 ½ year old. She is pretty independent but likes to imitate things. It’s sort of a learning process. I did notice that her grandpa asked questions to get her to think and be involved instead of having things done for her. He also showed her how to do things instead of doing it for her. She and I were playing multiple games because children have a one track mind but they can’t stay playing one thing because of their attention span and habituation bores them. I was throwing cards that had letters from the alphabet on one side and a cartoon character beginning with the letter on the other side. I was throwing them at her and she threw them back at me. Then we were bowling. I set up my bowling pins like a normal bowling pin set-up and she looked at me and did the same thing. Then when I was going from the living room to the kitchen, I noticed she was following me. When I stopped, she would stop and look up at me. Finally I asked her what she was doing and she asked me where I was going! When I was leaving, I put on my shoes and grabbed my purse. So she put on her grandpa’s shoes and grabbed a bag and followed behind me! It’s amazing how much we can influence a child just by actions.
I don't have children or work around them. But I see my friends' children imitate things they see others doing. My friend has a four-year old son who will walk through the door saying, "I'm Optimus Prime," after watching Transformers. He uses a really deep voice and stalks around as if he were a big heavy robot. He loves imitating things from movies. He also imitates his mom a lot. Sometimes if he gets in trouble he will cross his arms and say, "I'm just having an attitude," or "I'm just having a bad day." His two-year-old brother will put Mommy's purse on his arm, kiss Daddy goodbye and "go to work."
I was a foster parent for a while when I was younger. Kids definately imitate others. For example, when we were at the park playing on the jungle gym one of the children would start throwing sand or rocks. No sooner had the child began then the other children were joining in and I then had to convince them all to stop.
I am not a teacher or parent, but I have a younger cousin. Recalling when we were kids, she would always try to be like me and imitate whatever I did.
As a parent and teacher I have observed children watching and modeling what they see. For example, my almost 3 year old son will watch a cartoon with pirates, and then run off to his room, dress up in his pirate costume, and re-create what he has just watched on the television. My oldest son (now almost 13) used to to the same thing. Up until about two years ago, whenever he would watch something that he really enjoyed (for example Star Wars), he would have to pause the movie and "use his imagination" to recreate the action scenes.
Also, I cannot count the number of times my kiddos repeated something back that I said (usually not something that I wanted them to pick up). So, yes, kids do watch and mimic the behaviors that are modeled to them.
Children definitely learn by observing adults and others do things and then mimicking them. Sometimes the things they imitate us doing are so subtle; we don't even realize they are watching or taking note and then we see them do it. Something that I have noticed (and have tried to pay close attention to) is that my students will not only copy what I do, they copy what I say and how I say it. I set the tone in the classroom, and if they are hearing me use kind words and noticing helpful things the children are doing, that's what they follow. If I am doing the opposite, I definitely notice it by their actions.
Yes, children do imitate adults. Each year I have parents that tell me their child talks and acts like me at home. They even use some of my phrases.
Yes, I do believe that children imitate adults. I am currently doing my student teaching and my mentor teacher goes "Oh My Gosh" all the time. I have noticed that the kids do the same thing. This is a perfect example of why it is so important to watch what one does and says around children.
I'm a kindergarten teacher and I hear my students mimic me all the time, especially when they're playing school in our dramatic play area. I think it's natural for children to do things they've seen others do.
I teach Kindergarten and I also spend a great deal of time with my two year old niece and I agree that children mimic a great deal of what they see. I have taken to saying "uh oh" or "oh man" in response to dropping things or making mistakes and my niece has begun to respond to almost every negative situation with one of those terms in my exact tone. I have also on several occasions seen my students using my tones, mannerisms, and even my strategies to help one another when they are taking on the "teacher" role. I have also seen them express frustration, pain, disappointment, joy, and many other emotions in the same ways that I do. I believe that it is important to build a strong relationship between teacher and students, yet when this relationship has developed it makes it even more likely that a child will want to imitate that adult and be like that person. This is a huge responsibility and it is important that we take this role seriously. I agree with some of the previous posters who mentioned that we have to consider the other things that are influencing our students, but I believe we have the power through building strong relationships to outshine some of the more negative influences in children's lives and help them to develop good habits and traits.
Yes, children imitate and model whatever adults say and do. After hearing my sister sing "I'm a diva" by Beyonce, my niece is constantly singing or saying 'I'm a diva. I'm a diva'. My nephew Seth has watched his father open my sister's car door for quite some time. As a result, he thinks it's his responsibilty to open the door for Devin, his little sister.
Children definitely imitate others. My husband and I were recently on vacation with our friends who have a 4 year old. We found that the child began to imitate phrases we used. We took her to a folklore dance performance and later that evening she modeled that for us, too.
Children do imitate others, as a preschool teacher I see that daily. To the point where other children are telling each other. "Don't copy me!"
I believe children imitate others. My daughters (4 and 5 years old) imitate each other, my husband, their 6 year old cousin, myself, and anyone else they come in contact with. The verbiage they use is a mixture of various family members' verbiage.
For example, my mother in law calls them "darling" and says "yes, me lady." When my girls play, they will say those same phrases. Or, I'll say to them, "We don't want to do that. It's not polite." I was subsitute teaching in my daughter's preschool classroom, and I heard her say that phrase to a friend that was saying something mean.
My grandmother always said, "Children are little tape recorders, and they play it back at the worst times. Watch what you say."
I notice every day that children imitate people around them--especially adults. I have a little girl in my classroom that I saw licking her thumbs before she flipped through her artwork. I immediately knew that she was imitating someone else because she wouldn't have known to do that with papers. I also see my children in the classroom imitate me, that's why it's important to give positive modeling examples. I often tell my kids to stack their cups after lunch. After I stopped reminding them one day, a little girl took over and started to mock me, even using my same tone!
I am a teacher and I definitely believe that students act according to what they see others model for them. We've all done it- imitate someone because we think they are funny, cool, etc. Kids are no different. What I see the most is kids imitating people's speech. Because of this, we must do our best as teachers to model the best attitudes and behaviors at all times.
I think that it is interesting when children or adults imitate one another with new words. Ebonics or any other flexible vernacular are such amazing examples of this. We are constantly creating and using new words after seeing that integration modeled for us.
As an educator and a parent, I have seen children including my own children display modeled behavior. I believe the modeling occurs because the children are given permission to act a certain way or because they believe it is how they are suppose to act.
I am an aunt and have been since I was 5 years old. Immitation is something that all children do, and in more times than not can be flattering. My neices especially have immitated me over the years. When I was younger if I played with something they would want it, or if I dressed up, they would dress up too. When I got older and so did they, they began watching what I wore and how I talked and would try to immulate it. Kids just need someone to model after and they usually look to who is close to them to see how you behave.
I am not a parent or someone who works with children, however, I do have a cousin (Austin) who is in the first grade, and imitates his parents often. For example, when Austin’s mother drives him to school, Austin will pretend that he is driving too, in the backseat. Even though the child has never physically driven a car, he imitates his mother. One blogger on the website made a great point in that, do children understand the difference between harmless (acceptable) and harmful (unacceptable) imitation? For example, it might have been harmless to hit a Bobo doll, however, would the children choose to hit a small animal in the same situation as in Bandura’s experiment? Obviously this question leans more toward the cognitive side of psychology, however, it raises good questions.
As a middle school teacher I find that remaining calm in the classroom rubs off on the children, I rarely raise my voice and try remain calm and provide real solutions to all my kids to show them that panicking gets them no where. In other class rooms where I see teachers getting frustrated and losing their temper they lose control of the kids because they have lost control of their emotions.
Children imitate others all the time. Children just want to feel that they are fitting in with the adults. An example is whenever I see my nephew, he wants to be next to me and mimic what I do the entire time. If I get up to go to my room, he gets up and follows me to my room. If I start talking and using my hands while communicating, he starts to move his hands around the way I’m doing it. He also will ask for a coke to drink if I’m drinking a coke. I think that he is just trying to be noticed by me and any other adult that is around. He may think that I am cool and want to be just like me. I think it’s really funny that he mimics me, and I also think that he will be cool on his own.
Children are like play daughs, they can be shaped and molded in any form. As a substitute teacher i noticed that the only way young pre-schoolers learn is by immitation, and everything i want them to do i have to show examples, and guide them through, show by modeling what i want from them. I believe that parents and adults are role models for each child, because these little creatures are watching us and observing each and every action.
I am not a parent, but I do have some young nieces and nephews. Children are very vulnerable when young and are easily persuaded. When they see an adult, they are prone to imitation because they want to be like someone they look up to. I can remember bringing my puppy over to meet my little nephew and I was holding the puppy like a baby. When my nephew wanted to hold the puppy, he tried to hold him the same way. Adults need to be careful around children and be mindful of things the watch, tv, movies, etc. Children are very observant and learn quickly. This clip was a perfect example of how watching something violent or agressive can cause a child to act in a similar manner.
Yes, children very often imitate others, especially models such as parents, siblings, or caregivers. Please don’t judge us horrible parents from the following example… my husband and I lived in a subdivision where we had to cross train tracks in order to enter the freeway both to and from work. The traffic getting to work from this area was horrible, it would take us over an hour at times to commute 15 miles to work. If we hit this train, we would surely be late. The train had no schedule, no pattern, nothing… seemingly to run only to block traffic… stop on the tracks and wait. This train was only to transport from one warehouse to another right down the street. One day when we were driving home, our five year old daughter said in her most excited voice, “Look mommy! It’s the ‘puckin’ train!” Of course, she was imitating another word, you get the idea. My husband and I looked at each other and laughed… but lesson well learned - they hear even if you mutter something under your breath.
As a parent, I watch my kids during movie night and listen to their reactions to different parts of the movies. I love at the end of the movie when they run away playing a different role, it could be the bad guy or good guy (mostly the good guy) or how all of a sudden they can do karate. Kids truly follow the "monkey see monkey do" motto.
I definitely think that children learn by example. Just tonight my oldest child was upset with me and told me "You don't want me anymore." I've heard my nephew tell his parents that numerous and apparently so had my child. It could also be something more innocent, such as watching a Barbie princess movie and then dragging out the pretty dress and bright blue eyeshadow. Sometimes I don't even realize that I'm setting a bad example until I recognize my own behavior or have my own words thrown back at me. It can be absolutely horrifying but occassionally hilarious.
I think kids are very receptive to what other people do, especially when it is someone they know, care about, trust and/or love. Over Thanksgiving weekend, my sister, her daughter and I went to visit our Aunt and Uncle in Scottsdale, so I got to spend a lot of time with her. Her name is Mia and she is two years old. She is at that age where her mind is like a sponge and she listens to everyone and everything they say. One morning when I woke up, my stomach hurt, so my aunt gave me Tums. I put them on the table next to me and a little bit later she came over and thought they were candy and was going to eat them. I told her no Mia, that isn’t candy, that’s Auntie’s medicine. She asked what it is medicine for and I said to make my tummy feel better. So then a little bit later she came over and picked up the Tums and handed them to me and said “Auntie take your medicine so your tummy feels better” and then she kept saying the word medicine. Even the next day when we were driving home and she had pink candies, she handed them to me and called them Auntie’s medicine. That is just one example, but she did stuff like that all weekend. She would repeat words people said, she would sing songs she would hear, she would dance to the singing, stuffed snowman or call peoples name she had just learned.
My 6 month old nephew tries to observe, imitates and models everything he comes across. If I play with his toy piano and sing he will crawl to the toy piano and pound on the keys and do a laugh/shout to imitate me. If I smile at him he smiles back. If I laugh he laughs. If put up my hand to give a high five he won’t necessarily high five me back but he will reach his hand to mine.
I have seen that children, particularly smaller/younger children are very open to their imitations. They are not limited by embarrassment or shame. For example, my nephew is 3. Every time he watches an "action packed" movie, like Transformers, he begins to imitate not only the robots but begins to reenact all the explosion scenes. He makes the noises and moves his hands and arms open to depict the explosions. He is also very detailed with what he includes in his reenactments.
I have 6 nieces and nephews. I have witnessed alot of imitating from them. From things they have seen on T.V. to things they have seen their parents do. One nephew had to have his hair cut like his dad and have sunglasses like his dad. One niece saw her mom taking care of her little brother by tapping his back to get him to burp. So she tried to do the same thing one-day when her brother was crying on the floor. A friend of mine's daughter was talking on the phone to her grandma and she was speaking gibberish to her for like 20 minutes. When asked what she was saying she replied "I am speaking Spanish like Dora daddy."
I do feel that discipline is a reflection of leader. Children are the shadows of their parents and other strong leaders in their life. Personally, kids tend to look up to me a lot because I am big and muscular and still act like a big kid at times. And so I observe them alot on how they do everything they see me do. From talking to walking to even how i eat.
I volunteer with a non-profit organization that teaches middle school aged children about the benefits of leading drug and alcohol free lifestyles and leadership qualities. Each year we have a week long camp up in the mountains, and as the adults there we sometimes come up with inside jokes and even replacement phrases for swear words. At times, we laughingly exchange these in front of the kids because we assume it is safe because they don't understand the meaning behind any of it. Within a day or two the kids are running around using the phrases and repeating the inside jokes even though they have no idea what they are talking about. I assume this is because they observe us finding these things humorous and want to join in on the fun. It's amazing what kids can pick up in such a short period of time.
I have worked with grade school children off and on for the last 2 years, either by mentoring or just reading to classrooms. And I have noted they will try to imitate the behaviors of both adults and older children. Specifically notable is their language. the 1st and 2nd graders I have seen use terms from recently released movies and television in an attempt to impress adults and gain admiration of other children.
I have an 11 month old at home, and she has recently started saying random words she hears my spouse and I use- which is surprising because 2 months ago it was merely incoherent babble.
Time to set up the "swear jar"...
PSY Learning & Behavior student UNLV
I don't work directly with children, but recently I've observed an imitated behavior in my brother. He blows his nose just like his dad, and he actually told me that he learned it from him by watching.
Last time I babysat my cousins I pulled a quesidilla out of the microwave and the plate was very hot. I accidently cursed and said "oh F*ck!" Not long after I caught my two year old cousin repeating my bad language, clearly immitating me.
I remember an experience with my cousins that I was babysitting over a summer a few years ago. I remember if I did something, they wanted to do it too. I remember that I wanted to go shopping and asked my grandmother to take me. We all had to go together, so I went to get ready. All of a sudden my cousin comes in the bathroom, “Kansas, can you do my hair like yours”. It was only in a ponytail but they wanted it the exact same. I grew up as the oldest granddaughter so all the girls did follow in my example.
This is very applicable in the Orff Schulwerk approach to music education. Modeling is critical in this approach as is imitation.
I previously worked with an Autistic child for the FEATS Center in Southern Nevada which gave me an insight as to how children tend to imitate those they look up to. If I did something, the child would attempt to do it as well. He also followed his parents and siblings behavior. If his brother would yell at him, he would yell back. If his parents spanked him, he would hit back. He was mimicking their actions, as well as their words in some cases such as swearing.
Although I do not work with children, I do have 2 nieces and 2 nephews that I have seem grow up. The most prevalent example of imitation that I have witnessed among young people is the use of language. Typically this language that is imitated is foul in nature. It is my belief that these children witness adults using language in their everyday lives and do not see the repercussions that can come along with it. They can potentially see that there is some source of release that the adults feel and this could potentially be the reason that they choose to imitate them.
I am not a parent nor a teacher, but I have been around children most of my life. It is definitely apparent that children imitate each other, especially when a certain reaction is received. For example, my cousin, when he was a toddler, slapped my cousin across the face. I was young and found it funny (I wasn't a fan of this cousin) so I laughed. His parents attempted to discipline him, but when my other cousin, also a toddler at the time, saw that I had laughed and a few others had laughed in response to the slap, she then went to my cousin and smacked her as well. I have now learned that laughing will only fuel this type of behavior and have others want to imitate it to experience the same reaction for something they do. Children definitely imitate other children, as well as adults, all the time. Some sort of reinforcement in usually involved, leading to the repetition of that behavior.
I am not a parent or a teacher, but I did grow up with three brothers. I definitely feel that children imitate others. I can remember being at school when I was a little girl and I used a saying that my mom used. She use to always say “beats me” but when I used it at school my friends laughed. Another good example is when my mom walked in on my standing up while I peed down my leg (I was the only girl!). When she asked me what I was doing I told her I wanted to be able to stand to pee like my older brothers.
I remember the car commercial that uses life-size hamsters break dancing. The commercial shows the hamsters driving in the car, and then break dancing outside of the car. I remember that commercial so well because it is something unusual. Life size hamsters are not common, animals do not drive cars, and animals do not break dance. It is an uncommon phenomenon, which makes the commercial easy to remember.
I volunteer in a kindergarten class when I am at home, and I noticed that a child will imitate you if that specific action will make them feel better, more confident. When I am working with they on their spelling, they try to hold the pencil like I do, and write at the same pace as I do. It seems like they do that because it makes them feel more confident when writing, and they think that if they hold the pencil like I do, they will have similar penmanship as I do. When interacting with other students, there always seems to be a “cool” kid that can make the other kids laugh. That cool kid seems to be the model for the rest of the children. All of the other children try to imitate that cool kid’s behavior so that they will make others laugh and get attention.
I am a martial arts instructor and I constantly see my younger students imitating or reciting things they either see or hear. Commercials, movies, video games, and what their parents or other adult figures (myself included) in their life say or mention by chance.
I am not a parent or teacher, but I have baby sat on many occasions. I also do believe that children reflect on what others do that are adults in many ways. For example, I have noticed that if you repeatedly say a word, such as a cuss word, the children pick up on it and start using it like it is okay for them to say that word because the heard an authority figure saying it. Children pick up on their parents traits or people they are around a lot traits very easily, it is so crazy and you have to be careful what is said and done around them mainly negative actions.
1.If you are a parent, teacher, or someone who works with children, reflect on what you have observed. Do you notice that they often imitate others? Can you give examples?
I have seen this theory in action in my classroom. I noticed that a few months into the school year last year my students would pretend to be teachers in the dramatic play area. I thought that it was so interesting because they would say a lot of the same things that I said and would go through the same songs and motions that were a part of our daily routine. It made me much more aware of the way that I interacted in the classroom because I realized that I had 18 little people ready to absorb and imitate EVERYTHING that I did!
Yes, I notice my 5 year old imitating her teachers as well as myself during play. Another great example is when the child plays and uses the same words or phrases you use with your children. That's quite the suprise when you hear the same responses coming out of a little one, ha ha. For instance, we use to play this game when she wasn't listening I would tell her to "turn your ears on" and she would make a scene to turning her ears on. I've seen her play with her dolls saying "turn your ears on". The funniest moments to me is when she tells ME to do that!
Working with children, I see them imitating teachers, parents, and peers. The children in my class will play school. Several times I have witnessed a child directing a large circle story time. The child will have a book and sit children down in front of her on the floor. She asked them the title of the book and what an author and an illustrator do. The child proceeded to read imitating the things that I do when reading a story to the class.
I work with a little timid girl, and I notice she is hesitant to try new activities...that is until she witnesses her sister and cousin having fun with the new activity. Then she it's her turn!
I do think children model adults and other children in their lives. One example I have is that I regularly say, "oo-de-la-lee" (like on Disney's Robin Hood) when I am excited or my class has done something well, and my students have started to say it as well. Even parents ask me where their kids got that from. I guess that's not a bad saying to repeat!
-Lara E
I am a a teacher and a parent and I strive often to teach both my children and the young children within my classroom by modeling appropriate behaviors. For example, how to work together in many situations, how to treat others, how to react when something or someone upsets them, and how to be kind in all situations. I truly believe that children are a reflection of their parents, and it is amazing to see them repeat or react in the same ways that I would. In the classroom, I often see children behaving similar to myself when they are playing or trying to work out a problem. It is very important for all adults to be mindful of children that are present, and to model appropriate behaviors-we are their teachers.
After 20+ years of working with children innerly childhood settings, I can honestly say that children do copy what they see. They are trying to make sense of their world and the constant information barraging them. One way they understand situations from life is by acting through them in their play. I feel the parents are a child's most influential role model initially, and then they rely more on their friends for socially acceptable behavior as they enter adolescence.
After 20+ years of working with children innerly childhood settings, I can honestly say that children do copy what they see. They are trying to make sense of their world and the constant information barraging them. One way they understand situations from life is by acting through them in their play. I feel the parents are a child's most influential role model initially, and then they rely more on their friends for socially acceptable behavior as they enter adolescence.
I have noticed that children imitate others. A good example of this is when my best friend and I used to play house as young children. I can remember that I often spanked by baby dolls. My parents often spanked me so I was imitating them. It is always fascinating to me how much I can learn about a child’s home life simply by watching them play. When I was an intern in a kindergarten class I observed that the girls who were playing in the kitchen were busy pretending to cook and clean while the boys laid back on the couch and relaxed. This is typical in our culture. Another example from my internship is when the kids played school they repeated things and did things that their teacher did.
What I observed was a child mimicking the same behavior he saw the researcher doing in the video. The child saw the teacher hitting the toys with a hammer, the child then hit the toy with the hammer, just as the teacher did. The child modeled the same behavior he saw that was presented to him first. I have notice on numerous occasions that children like to imitate others. Every day in the school age classroom that I work in, a few of the children like to imitate one another to try and get attention. For example, one child will think it's fun to stand on a chair while waiting for their snack. Another child notices this behavior and does the same thing the first child is doing, exactly as the first child is doing it.
I am both a teacher and a parent and have seen many examples of children watching and modeling after TV shows, friends and parents or teachers. I often use modeling in the dramatic play are if I want children to practice a skill or play in a certain way. I also of ten see children copy one another, just think about cuss words or do something they think is funny. Often times if it is a behavior I know that I do not want to be part of my class I will quickly put an end to it because I do not want it to continue. Also wresting is a big one, children Both my students and my son often play wresting just like it is shown on TV. It also works positively, I often use modeling to teach positive social roles and sharing. Thank you for your video.
children absolutely imitate others! One example I have is a student who imitated every adult that impacted her life. One time she was playing in the house area of my classroom, and she was pretending to play mom. I heard her yelling “ Sarah, you come here right now it is time to eat dinner! I have to take care of the baby and you are old enough to feed yourself!” She reflected the exact intonations of her mother, who is a very loud and outspoken woman. Another example is how students imitate each other. When I ask students a question, or compliment them, immediately others will follow. If I say, “Wow, martin, I love the way you are sitting!” I notice that others will sit like him. I often have student model appropriate behavior in my classroom so that the younger students will follow them.
By: Alissa Goetz
ASU ECD 504
ASU ECD 504 - Response
The last commercial that I have seen that has stuck in my mind is the commercial for the Ab Circle Pro. It influenced and stuck with me, because I wanted to get back in shape for the summer. I did not end up buying this product. I instead got a gym membership to work out daily. I remembered the commercial, because of the before and after photos, and the users success stories. Kids get stuck on commercial the same way, just like Bandura had found, children learn by observing actions of others. If they see a commercial or a tv show where kids are having fun, laughing, and using cool toys; they are going to want that toy.
ASU ECD 504 - Response
I am a teacher and I work with preschooler age children. I definitely see children imitating what they see. My boys especially mimic karate moves that they see on Power Rangers, and I have a little boy that loves Star Wars and often pretends he uses a light safer to hurt people. Another example would be if one child climbs up the slide (which they know they are not suppossed to do) They will all climb up the slide. They like to follow what their friends are doing, especially if the kids are laughing and look like they are having fun.
Kids do imitate the behaviors they see, both good and bad, so we need to be aware of our modeling around them. I have observed children who adjust to situations by really being an observer, and they are the ones I think who take in a lot of what is going on in order to determine what type of behavior is appropriate for a given situation.
I am reminded of my brother when I was younger. My mom had to cut him off from watching power rangers and the karate kid because he kept thinking he was a karate pro, and kicking around the house, including me! He was obviously very inspired and impacted by the shows and movies he saw and had trouble translating their appropriateness to everyday life.
I have definitely noticed my students observing and imitating each other, particularly in play. Some of my students have invented a playground game that is like tag but evolves as children change the type of monsters or villains they are as they run around. Each time they play, children watch what a peer is doing and emulate the behavior, whether it’s being a roaring monster or a cop. I have also noticed some students who adopt phrases that I use, down to the same intonation I use!
What I have observed was in a way quite disturbing. Children look up to adults and model what adults do. Knowing that a child will model aggression concerns me greatly. Adults need to understand that children often imitate them and thus should practice more self control and less agrressive acts. Examples of modeling include swearing, shouting, hitting, putting others down.
It is interesting to consider what motivates children to imitate certain actions over others. For example, my father is a wonderful man, but he who would curse frequently as we were growing up. This was never something I picked up on and to this day, I'm not a person who uses curse words.
Obviously not all behaviors are modeled by children. What do you suppose determines what children model and do not model? Is it that one of Bandura's steps is missing that keeps a behavior from being imitated? (attention, retention, reproduction, motivation).
Karen B.
ECD 504
I believe that children definitely imitate their parents, teacher and other children. I really try to set a good example myself so that I can get desired behavior out of children. I also have found if I am verbal about a child making a good choice than the other children imitate the behavior in hopes that I will give them credit as well.
I absolutely believe children imitate what they observe. I have one student in particular that illustrates this exactly. He imitates what he sees in movies and in video games by making EVERY item he picks up into a gun. He knows how to cock and shoot and he knows how to look through a scope to line up a shot. He often army crawls under tables or next to objects so he can be a sniper. He is proof that children imitate and model what they see.
I have noticed that my students imitate what they see or hear. I can think of one specific example in my own classroom of high school students. When a student is teasing another student, I usually them him/her to "be nice." After a couple months into the school year I started to hear my students telling each other to "be nice," and not not mock me, they were just repeating what I would say in this situation, maybe in hopes that it would have the same effect as when I say it and the behavior stops? Regardless, it was an eye opener for me to realize that I was obviously leaving some kind of impression on these kids if they started to mimic my actions. Children are very impressionable and as teachers we have the responsibility to model respectful behavior.
The students I work with most definitely repeat and model after others. Their actions and verbal remarks seems to be a reflection of what they see at home, school and elsewhere. Actually, a few weeks ago, one of my preschoolers kept repeating, "Don't give me no back talk!" in the voice of Mr. T. It was very funny, and at the same time interesting that he was copying something he heard at the movies or on television.
Thinking of commercials that have stuck in my mind, I usually remember those with a catchy jingle. The jingle is what sticks in my mind, even if it is a product that I have no interest in buying. However, I am sure that when a time comes for me to use that product, the brand with the catchy jingle will be one of the first that I will research.
Jessica C.
ECD 504
Hello-My name is Virginia and I am a Masters student in, Early Childhood Ed at ASU, (ECD504 posting for class)
I do believe children are affected by behavior they see and imitate it. While I was a nanny, between high school and college, I discussed this subject with the parents in the family I lived with. There were two boys and two girls in the family. The parents were very clear that their children were only to watch 30 minutes of TV, after dinner and before bedtime. This was overseas so the American shows, at the time, were very limited. However, on the evenings where The Simpson’s aired, there was a marked difference in the behaviors of the two boys. Both the parents and I discussed this. Both boys were wound up and made sarcastic comments to their sister as, me and their parents and jumped on their beds and essentially told us they did not have to respect rules. Both parents believed the boys were acting like how they saw Bart act. On other evenings, when more light hearted shows played, they behaved. The parents decided that on the evening when The Simpson’s aired, they would play aboard game and not watch the show, which I agreed with.
My daughter is a prime example. I run a very Opie Cunningham type of household, my daughter's father does not. My daughter comes home with questionable behaviors and attitudes that are directly attributable to his parenting ability or lack thereof. He makes poor chices as does his parents. The apple truly does not fall far, and I am trying my best to model some type of appropriate example for her.
I do think that children imitate others, and I have certainly witnessed that imitation in my experience. What's interesting to me, though, is that different children will imitate a behavior in different situations. For example, some of my students would only imitate behaviors in private, while playing alone, so it took a long time for me to observe it. However, other students imitate immediately and in public, especially when imitating peers.
I find it is true that children mimic what they see on televeision. So often children's play themes are centered around the TV shows they watch. Often it is Power Rangers. Wheni was little my brother and I loved to ply WWF and my best friend and I played Batman and Robin. I find it interesting that it is normally the violet shows that are imatated. I have never had children play Seasame Street or Barney. Additionally, when we have children who use swear words it is common to find that someone in their home life uses that kind of language frequently (sometimes it is older children in the family or neighborhood. As teachers we have the role of modeling for children and, in my role, helping parents understand the impact of modeling on TV and in the child's life.
I have observes that children immitate the values and attitudes of their immediate teachers as relationships are developed with the children.
I am not a parent or a teacher and I do not work with children. However my girlfriend has two boys, ages six and four and they definitely try to model everything that I do. I almost always wear a hat and whenever they are around me they want to wear one of my hats. Also, they know that they are not allowed to drink soda but because I drink rockstar they always ask there mom if they can have one. Because the boys always want to do what I am doing and be like me we use this type of modeling behavior to our advantage. An example of this is when it is time to do home work. Even if they dont want to do there work they will do it if they see me doing my work for school. I think that modeling behavior can be good, you just have to watch what behaviors you display for kids to model.
I have definitely noticed modeling in my kids. My stepdaughter tries to be as much like me as possible. She tells her real mom and her dad and her babysitter that they're not doing things the way that I do them. She even says things to me verbatim of how I have said them to her. She also imitates her big brother until he gets annoyed with it and asks her to stop copying him. My stepson also models himself after his friends at school, and frequently gets in trouble for it (since they're troublemakers).
I definitely see children imitate their parents in many ways. For example, I have two nieces. One is aged 4 years, and the other is 1 and a half years old. My sister is a stay-at-home mother and takes care of them every day. I notice that the 4 year old will discipline the younger sister in a similar fashion she is disciplined by her mother. For example, the 4 year old will get in trouble for standing on the bench and is told not to stand up and is put in time out. When the younger sister is doing a similar act, the older sister will yell at her and try to tell her to go to time out. The opposite also happens. When my sister is disciplining the 4 year old, the younger sister is next to her also yelling and babbling in a similar manner. My sister is constantly telling the two girls that they are not the mother and that she is.
Because they spend most of their time with my sister, my nieces tend to act very similar to her. They have very different personalities, but the tendencies of my sister come out in both of them. Another example of imitation would be when the 4 year old is playing with other children, she tends to tell them what to do and be bossy. This is because my sister does the same thing to her when they are alone.
A great example of how children imitate their parents is my youngest brother. He is 12 and has had very limited exposure to other children. He has been home-schooled and spends nearly all of his time with my mother and step-father. He imitates his dad more than his mom, and there are various examples to illustrate this. The most obvious is his manner of speech. He uses words and phrases that he hears his dad use. When I talk to him on the phone, he always calls me "sis" (that is what he heard his dad say to his sister on the phone). Another time I asked him how it was to see his grandmother. He told me that it was an "interesting case study on Alzheimers". I can almost say for sure that those were his dad's words.
He also imitates his dad in more physical ways too. He chooses to dress like him, and wants to carry a survival knife on his belt. This is someone he looks up to and wants to be like.
I have four daughters and I have observed that they love to imitate dance moves from various movies such as, High School Musical. Music videos are also a source of entertainment in our household. Imitating the different stars makes the children feel as if they just received their own private dance lessons.
Children definitely imitate the people around them, especially in their formative years. They soak information up like a sponge, and then spit it back out for everyone to hear. This is why you have to be careful about what you say around them. do you remember the show Kids Say the Darndest Things, with Bill Cosby. That is a perfect example. "My daddy once said..." They do this as well with behaviors. You are teaching them every step of the way. Thats why they imitate behaviors like dressing up in your clothes and playing "grown up" and things like this.
I'm not a parent, a teacher, nor do I work with kids. I do, however, work in retail, I see children imitating other children and adults all the time. And in simple forms, such as a parent will stand in front of a laptop pressing keys, and then the children will walk up to one next to the adult and do the same thing. If a child is playing with a display, esp if the child looks like they are having fun tryin to destroy it, another child who has to relation to the first child will do the same thing. I have noticed, however, that the continuation of the behavior GREATLY depends on the interaction from the parents. Some parents let their children run wild, screaming and kicking and throwing product in the store, with no discipline. Other parents will correct their children in store, and others will just calmly walk their child out of the store and take them to the car.
It all seems to go back to the old adage of "lead by example." If you model good behavior, then hopefully the people around you will do the same.
I don’t work with children but I do have an example of this subject. My cousin had his first children about three years ago, and ever since he was born he has been watching his dad play golf, watch golf on TV, and talk a lot about golf. So now that the kid is about 3 years old, he cries every time his dad goes to play golf because he wants to go too. If we give him two boxes, one full of all kinds of toys and the other one only containing a golf club and a golf ball, for sure he will get the golf toys.
Children learn from imitation all the time--watch a young child who tries to do exactly what his/her parents are doing. I remember as a kid, my little brother tried to shave, "just like Daddy." He cut his lip open doing it!
Commercials work, obviously, because advertising wouldn't be making billions of dollars a year if they didn't! The Nazis figured out that propaganda works, and businesses have followed along. Shows how insidious the whole thing really is! Commercials play on our emotions, insecurities, etc. to get us to want to buy the product. A commercial gets into our brain, connects with whatever part of the brain relates, and then stays there. Even if I don't buy the product, I usually remember the commercial.
Children absolutely learn from others and model what they see. My parents always said do as I say not as I do, but this often times did not happen. Parents play a huge roll in who their children become and how they act. I have found that once they reach the teenage years they are more apt to model what they see their friends doing rather than their parents, but I hope they still observe their parents actions and have learned from past experiences with their parents. It is too bad that so many children have parents who are not good role models.
Children observe, imitate and model adults. When they were young, my own biological children would watch me reading a book, then, they would pick up a book and pretend to be reading . In other instances they would observe me studying and then they, too, would pretend to study.
Children are always imitating what they observe from others. As they are developing their own sense of self, they are looking to see what the actions, thoughts and beliefs are of their role models, i.e. siblings, parents and friends. I can see this with my own five year old daughter as she is developing preferences for toys - she sees her cousins that are teens with I-Pads and immediately begins to question when she gets to have one as soon as a commerical comes the television, using the support of her relatives having them as support.
Michael R.
I do work with children. And the children I encounter everyday do imitate their teachers. It is very interesting to point out that the most popular teachers are imitated by a majority of the students. For example, Mr. Jon is the funniest and most popular teacher we have. The kids love Mr. Jon, and are always watching what he does, and then imitating it. Also, if Mr. Jon is not present and a substitute teacher comes in, the children often don’t imitate or follow the teacher’s instructions. In fact, parents prefer having Mr. Jon because the kids are more attentive (observe), and perform whatever Mr. Jon is doing (imitate). So if the teacher is performing activities on shapes, the kids will pay attention and do the exercises and next thing you know they are learning squares from circles.
I think children's minds are very mold able. Especially when they are young.the young children learn from everything they see and that includes the other children.the children thrive on social learning. I believe that's how they learn everything; including everything their parents teachers nannies etc. say.that is why sometimes you have to be careful around young children because their brains are like sponges and absorb everything they hear and say
As a parent and teacher I believe that children are certainly prone to imitating what is modeled for them. In the classroom this can be utilized as an advantage and a teaching strategy. Teachers can model reading and writing by doing it themselves, enthusiastically in the classroom. Children will then imitate this modeled behavior and will see reading and writing (or any subject area)as enjoyable and worthwhile. I have noticed this also when I tell the class I am reading them one of my favorite books...it then becomes the book ALL of the children in class want to read.
I am neither of the three but I have observed people who do have children and the way they behave. For example, there was this lady that had four children in a mini van and she wanted to get over in my lane I stopped for 5 minutes to let her go in front of me because if not she would miss the entrance to the freeway. She didn't take her chance she just sat in the other lane so I decided to go. Then, all of a sudden she is speeding to catch up to me to curse at me, tell me I should die, that I was an idiot and whatever other vulgar things she was ranting about. Mind you we are on the freeway and I just looked at her and look away and she kept going and was swerving all over the lanes. Then we end up stopping at the same place she gets out and says I was following her and that I am a stupid b**** and all this other stuff and her four kids started to curse just because the mother was and the oldest was not even older than 4 years old. I just kept walking then I saw her a couple times in the store and her kids were disobeying her and pushing her and cursing at her and acting like brats. They were a spitting image of what the mother was. I couldn't believe that she could not see that she was affecting their behavior and to start at such a young age was a shame. I know that I would never disrespect myself or my children the way that she did.
My best friend's son is 4 years old now and he DEFINITELY imitates television and the older people in his life. After watching some action cartoon he will run around making explosion sounds and jump around like the characters would do. His father does martial arts and his son would always try to imitate punching and kicking and try to do sommersaults and things he sees his dad doing.
I have absolutley no patience with idiot drivers. I tend to speak out loud what I am thinking when I encounter poor drivers. My daughter and I were sitting at a red light and she says, "Go dummy." I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly so I asked her to repeat what she had said. I then explained to her that the light was red and the driver should not go. I had to re-evaluate my attitudes about people and had to learn to keep my thoughts to myself. My negative thoughts were being passed on to my child.
Students imitate teachers and their peers. An example is when students are playing school and imitate the teacher by using the same phrases, gestures, tone, etc. Students imitate their peers on the playground when learning to play a new game or participate in imaginative play. For instruction, I use modeling by implementing the "Gradual Release Model" when introducing new concepts. The Gradual Release Model begins with the teacher modeling performance expectations in what is called the "I Do." Students then perform the task with teacher guidance and support in the "We Do." When the students have had sufficient practice with the skill, they have the opportunity to perform the task independently, which is the "You Do."
Imitation is something that children do often. I believe it is their way of learning, especially learning what is good and bad. A great example is my little sister. Everything that I do my little sister is right behind me doing the same thing. One example that I have, is when I was visiting back at home it was cold so I was sleeping in my sweatshirt. My sister decided to come lay with me, after a while she got up and ran to her room and came back and she was wearing a sweatshirt too. I think it is the cutest thing that she looks up to me, and that pushes me to do better and to always do the right thing because I have someone that truly admires me and she means the world to me.
I neither of the three, but I do watch the people around me and see how they interact with their kids. Kids are a reflection of their parents, after all they have to learn it somewhere! Isn't there an old saying somewhere that says, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." It works both ways with good and bad behavior.
I am a parent and a grad student working as a student teacher in a Pre-K class. I see students copy each other's behavior all the time, and I also see them copy what they see adults doing. I see students tell each other word for word a rule that has been repeated to them. I also see students "playing" teacher, imitating what has been done in circle time, or exactly how the teacher stands when they are explaining something. As a parent, I see my daughter imitate me perfectly, whether it is something I am proud of, or something I am not proud of!!
Children often imitate their friends, movies, and familiar characters on TV. I have taught kindergarten and currently teach pre- k and find that playground time is often the scene of imitation and role play. I have witnessed many times, the fight scenes from an array of superhero movies. Although weapons and play fighting is prohibited at our school, it always seems to sneak in. On one occasion I had to take a few boys aside and talk to them about play fighting. One of the boys said “Well, we were just pretending to fight.” But in reality they had actually been kicking and punching each other! In their minds, their kicking wasn’t real; they were just imitating the fighting, even though they had witnessed a boy getting hurt!
I see children imitate other children and adults all the time. They are testing the behaviors they have seen and making decisions as to whether or not to adopt them as their own. Sometimes, the imitation is in the form of language or action. Sometimes it is a facial expression, posture or gesture. I see a lot of young boys who imitate a “gangster pose” even when they are not acting aggressively; they often do it in the spirit of a comic gesture. This suggests that they are imitating the gesture being modeled without understanding the sub-context which is understood by the originator of the gesture. With young girls, this same dynamic often takes the form of music video “dance moves” which they have seen, or in their wardrobe choices.
As a parent and a teacher I see my children and my students model the actions and words of individuals in their environment. My 20 month old daughter copies her brother when she pretends to go potty. Whether it is outside or inside. She pulls up her shirts tucks it under her chin, sticks out her belly, and "goes" potty. Today she put her doll in time out immediately after she saw her aunt do it to her niece. Kids do the darndest things.
I have definitely noticed that children do often imitate others, especially other children. For example, during a class lesson, some children are more likely to model what their classmates are doing than to follow along with what is going on in class, especially if they are misbehaving and if the children have a close bond. The same is true when those particular “leaders” in class are following instructions and participating during instances such as circle time. Once the “followers” of the class see that they can have fun while learning because their peers are, they will want to participate more as well.
I am a parent, a teacher, and have worked with children in many stages. Children will imitate others; sometimes even without realizing it. Children who have the opportunity at school to do dramatic play, often times go through the processes of things that occur at home. If you really want to know what their home life is like, give them a center with many dramatic play options. I've seen children act out playing house, having dinner, and even talking on the phone. Most times they'll repeat what they've heard someone in their home do. I have also seen students pretend to be television characters, act out their favorite scenes, and have something occur that entices a "catch" phrase and they usually don't realize they've said something wrong. An example of the "catch" phrase I mean is something a person says on a regular basis when something occurs; i.e. when pain is inflicted from an accident and the person always says "Oh man, that hurts" then most times the child will say them same thing. I used a mild example of things I've heard children say when repeating parents or others.
In the classroom that I have interned in I noticed many of the girls in the class imitating one another. One particular instance that stands out to me was during free play, and the girls would all play with the stuffed animal dogs. There was one girl who you could say was the ringleader of the group. She would call the puppy princess, and then all of the other girls would call their puppy princess. It was quite comical to watch because the "leader" of this group would get very upset and declare that her puppy was the only one named Princess!
I am a preschool teacher in the Head Start program, and I have definitely experienced such imitation. Students are quick to say, "But he/she did it first," in order to prevent themselves from receiving all the blame. Generally, this refers to the things that they know are wrong (crossing a boundary, running inside, etc) but take the risk to do, anyway.
I notice that adults sometimes attempt to regain students attention by saying "you are not listening". From the first time I heard someone say this, I thought to myself, "They are listening, but not to what we want them to listen to." They are interested in something else. They may notice the actions or objects or sounds that draw their attention elsewhere. And I do notice the imitation. They repeat words, sounds and actions of television and movies. They also repeat interesting words, sounds and acts that someone else nearby has done that interests them. Many times I have watched as someone burps at the lunch table, only to have the eventual outcome of a class outbreak of burps.
I have definitely seen children imitate others. I notice that some children imitate more than others. I have seen a boy in a classroom immediately imitate movements and sounds of any of his classmates. I have also seen one or two students march around a classroom with musical instruments during free play time and almost immediately the entire class are then marching with instruments in a line. Children also imitate by reciting songs, books, phrases heard, etc. I have also seen young children imitate video games or action movies by pretending they are superheroes, etc. I believe children are constantly observing and whatever/whoever they are exposed to can definitely impact how they act.
Children definitely imitate others. An example that immediately comes to mind is when one child wants to get up to use the bathroom or get a drink during naptime, and so suddenly the whole class wants to do the same.
As a Kindergarten teacher, I have often observed that children will imitate others in play. For example, in my classroom I use an easle and pointer during many lessons, or I hold a book with one hand, showing the class. Throughout the year, children (often girls) will come up to me and ask to use my easle and pointer. I'll watch as they pretend to be the teacher for their friends and they'll use the pointer and easle in a similar way as me or they will hold a book and "read" it to their friends. In addition, I'll often see boys on the playground pretending to be characters from super hero shows/games. They will start running and jumping and thrusting their hands out like Spiderman or Ninjas. I believe that children are constantly observing the behaviors of those around them or on TV and creating their own scenarios to mimic what they have seen others do.
Every time I see a Reeses commercial I am compelled to go to the store and buy some Reeses. The commercial sticks in my mind because the pictures of the candy remind me of what the candy tastes and feels like.
It amazes me how much children are influenced by others around them. I do not have children of my own but I notice this a lot in my family members. My cousin for instance is only 3 but he picks up anything he sees his older sisters or his parents do. He was videotaped singing a song where he was swearing because the artist was swearing in the song. He also watches his dad when he drinks soda and imitates the way his father burps. My niece imitates her mother when she gets punished and often lashes out on our family by hitting or spanking us when she doesn’t get her way. She also imitates everything that we say verbally including swearing. We know she doesn’t know the meaning of “bad words” but she repeats everything that is said around her. It has made me learn to watch what I say or do around younger children because they are like sponges and absorb everything you may so do around them.
I most definitely think that children imitate others. I feel that most of their behavior is a reflection of something they have seen. A great example I can vouch for is the actions of my much younger sister. Right away I learned that if I wanted her to do something funny I just had to do it, and she almost always followed. When I would stick my tongue out at my mom, my baby sister would do the same. Another thing I quickly learned was that I was a ro-model of my sister and that everything I did not want her to do I had to make sure not to do in front of her. Climbing on the counter to get a snack was bad for her to see because she immediately tried the same thing. And as she got older I learned to carefully watch what I said in front of her, because she would repeat those ‘bad’ words to others!
I do not have kids yet. But I do have very large extended family. So I've babysat a lot and seen it all generally. Children certainly imitate action or verbal communication if it is something have been exposed to. Especially in the most formative years of life. During these first years they will develope many speech patterns of those around them. for example, accents and vocabulary. However when it comes to behavior some children are naturally more rambunctious than others and some are more docile. Most children though, however their natural personality may be, will certainly follow suit of whom ever is teaching the lesson, being looked up to, or leading the way. I've seen the most calm kid hit someone because their little friend did it. Maybe one day they hate juice and the next day they love it because their brother loves juice. Kids do what other kids do. They try things out and through that experience they learn bad from good, true likes from dislikes. Thats why they might bully, hate lettuce, love football or are into science. Interests and environment breed patterns, imitation and learned behavior. However if a child is misbehaving that is when the adult must teach that child that hitting or stealing is bad. Otherwise that learned behavior may grow into older behavior that is must worst.
When I was little I always saw my mom cleaning. I picked up on those habits and now I'm obsessed with cleaning. I may have even taken it to compulsive levels some might say. I also saw my mom shopping and overtime collecting bags of things she never ever used. Now in my home I'm very aware of unused things, unopened mail and throwing things away I don't need. I've taken her behavior, learned I hated it and now I behave the exact opposite on purpose. When we are children we see everything, learn everything some things we mimmic and some we distance ourselves from for personal reasons.
I am not a parent but I have worked with children as a gymnastics coach and a camp counselor. I also have a young sister. I'm very familiar with modeling behavior. In all of my experiences with children I've learned that by treating them the way that you want to be treated works like a charm. By treating them with respect and love, they will do that same to you. For example, when my baby sister gets upset and throws a tantrum, she responds so much better to a calm and loving reproach than someone yelling back at her. Camp children are the same way, they feed off of a counselors confidence or fear.
I used to work in a group home for teen boys who were kicked out of the public school system, so I did work with children at times. The youngest boy we had was 9 when he first arrived and his name was Jacob. He had some issues but was a nice kid. I got to know him and he was close to me. One day I came to work and he was wearing his hair just like my hair style. I was speaking with one of the councilors and they mentioned Jacob had changed his hair style, I thought that was funny and asked why me. the councilor said because Jacob looked up to me he was imitating me. a few months later a new child care councilor was working at Jacobs house and Jacob started to wear his hair style haha.
I am a teacher and find that children will certainly imitate others. Especially when they are reinforced positively. If I need the children to sit quietly. I will publicly praise one, two or three children for their outward signs that they are ready to learn and I find that soon all 20 kids are imitating the behavior of those who are being praised (so they get praised as well!). The same goes for the shenanigans of negative behavior in the classroom. If someone is picking on another child, ultimately they are going to be punished. However, in the moment, they are being "praised" by another child who is likely laughing or also playing along thus furthering the behavior.
I am not a parent, teacher, or someone who works with children, so I asked a friend who has a 2 year old daughter. She indicated that her daughter does often imitate the behavior of others. Specifically, she recalled that her daughter often observes her applying makeup, and wants mommy to apply makeup to her. She, of course, sees her parent as a model. The daughter got into the makeup once, trying to apply it herself, but lacked the physical ability to model the behavior. This may be why she wants mommy to apply the makeup for her. My friend also recalled that observing older children using the potty at daycare has helped her with potty-training her daughter. The daughter observes these dominant peers using the potty, and then she uses the potty because she is motivated to model their behavior.
I work with children with autism and I often see that they imitate and model other behaviors. I work with one child that is an autism classroom at school and he will pick up a lot of the behaviors from the other children in his class. If he sees that a child gets reinforced or gets attention for their behavior then he is going to want to engage in the same thing. At the same time we use social modeling videos to help our kids learn how to appropriately socialize with their peers. The kids watch the videos and then practice imitating what the saw with other kids. Overall I think children are constantly imitating other children and adults as well.
Children definitely imitate others. Tonight I had a "facetime" session with my 3 year old nephew. If I would wave, he would wave. If I stuck my tongue out at him, he would stick his tongue out at me. If I smiled really big, he would smile really big. The imitation would stop occurring when it was hard for him to keep paying attention, which goes right along with Bandura's theory, which states attention is one of the factors necessary for imitation to take place.
I do not work with children, but I do have a younger brother that mirrors both our father and his mother. The most obvious behaviors I see are his facial expressions and the way he speaks. I notice these facial expressions most when he is thinking about a sarcastic remark someone makes or when someone says something off the wall. Another time he was talking about wanting to exchange a toy for a different one, the one he should have got because he did not feel like the choice he originally made was "right in his heart".
I work with a child who is ten years old. We often go to the park and she gets to play with peers there. As I watch her play I notice that she does not always do the same thing, but switches whatever she is doing to match what the other person she is playing with wants to do. She is a follower and not a leader but she also imitates me as well. On occasion someone of my age group will come talk to me at the park just to be nice while we watch our kids play. She always comes up to me and asks why do I say hi to strangers? I tell her if someone says hello to you, it is polite to say hello back to them. One day we were out and about and she held the door open for an elderly woman and the woman said thank you to her so she responded you're welcome. She is very scared to talk to others and is quite shy so for her to talk to an adult because I had imitated it for her before and assured her that it was okay, she spoke to an adult with ease.
I do a lot of volunteer work in my niece’s classroom, and I notice that the students either imitate the teacher or other students quite frequently. I have noticed that when one student asks for a drink of water or to go to the bathroom, at least 2 other students ask to do the same thing. I also notice that if the teacher asks a student to stop doing a behavior that is inappropriate and tells the student why, other students will give the same reason. For example, the teacher asked a student to stop making a bird sound because the other students were trying to concentrate. When the student continued to make the sound, another student said, “Can you please stop making that sound? I am trying to concentrate!”
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