IMITATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELING AND THERAPY.

This article reviews literature and research involved in the development of imitative learning and related concepts. Research on imitation is characterized by a lack of continuity and a lack of synthesis into a unified, comprehensive, theoretical structure. The concept has been investigated by child psychologists, social psychologists, counseling psychologists, physiological and perceptual psychologists, psychotherapists, personality theorists, learning theorists, teachers, and industrial psychologists. The potential that imitation learning holds for practical application in therapy and counseling appears to be significant. The needs for further research are numerous and pertain to almost every aspect of imitation theory. The possible application of imitation to the fields of therapy and counseling represents a potential.