Imitative Modeling as a Theoretical Base for Instructing Language-Disordered Children

Abstract

A modification of Bandura’s social learning theory (imitative modeling) was employed as a theoretical base for language instruction. This approach was experimentally compared to an alternative technique which required the subject to literally match each stimulus statement made by the clinician (mimicry). The results support the prediction that modeling is more effective in teaching the subject the appropriate grammatical rule, which he or she initially lacked. Moreover, subjects in the modeling condition exhibited both greater retention of the rule and a more successful generalization of it to novel contexts. The results are explained in terms of an “interference hypothesis,” which suggests that a client’s overt verbalization may interfere with the cognitive processing necessary to learn an abstract language rule.