Copying an adult, young children will wave a stick over a box and then use the stick to push on a knob that opens the box when all they needed to do to open the box was to pull on the knob. This best illustrates

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Overimitation is the tendency to copy unnecessary steps or actions in a task, even if they are not essential or relevant to achieving the goal. This behavior is commonly observed in young children who learn by watching and copying adults or older children. In this scenario, the children wave a stick over the box and push on a knob instead of simply pulling on the knob to open the box, indicating overimitation. Respondent behavior refers to an automatic response to a specific stimulus, partial reinforcement is a schedule of reinforcement where behavior is reinforced only some of the time, and classical conditioning is a type of learning where two stimuli are paired to elicit a response.

Copying an Adult, Young Children Will Wave a Stick Over