Betts[1] defines imitation as “the instinct to respond to a suggestion
from another by repeating his act.” This is simple and entirely covers
the ground. He goes on to say that the instinct is one of the earliest
to appear, being very plainly discernible before the normal child has
reached the age of one year. It often reaches its height by the time the
baby is two or three years old, but is never lost and sometimes persists
strongly into old age. When a child imitates the same thing several
times his imitation becomes a habit, and so two powerful factors unite
to form a customary type of behavior.
Footnote 1:
The Mind and Its Education, 170.
[Sidenote: Appealing to the Imitative Instinct]
One might think that imitation, being strongest in young children, would
appear almost exclusively in the lower grades of school; but in fact it
plays an important part all the way through the high school. The things
imitated change, but the instinct remains. In treating cases which are
caused or influenced by this powerful instinct, which the great French
sociologist Tarde considers the greatest factor in human conduct, there
are four methods which can be used: