to perform it. But the act must be one which the child already knows how
to perform, otherwise his performance of it will be faulty and
incomplete. If he has never performed the particular act, seeing another
perform the act sets him to trying to do it and he may soon learn it. If
he successfully performs an act when he sees it done by another, the act
must be one which he already knows how to perform, and for whose
performance the idea has already served as a stimulus. Now if imitation
were instinctive in the strict sense, one could perform the act for the
first time merely from seeing another do it, without any previous
experience or learning. It is doubtful whether there are any such
inherited connections. It is, however, true that human beings are of
such a nature that, particularly in early life, they _like_ to do and
_want_ to do what they see others doing. This is one of the most
important aspects of human nature, as we shall see.

=Function and Importance of Imitation in Life.= Natural selection has
developed few aspects of human nature so important for survival as the
tendency to imitate, for this tendency quickly leads to a successful
adjustment of the child to the world in which he lives. Adult men and
women are successfully adjusted to their environment. Their adjustment
might be better, but it is good enough to keep them alive for a time.
Now, if children do as they see their parents doing, they will reach a
satisfactory adjustment. We may, therefore, say that the tendency to
imitate serves to adjust the child to his environment. It is for this
reason that imitation has been called an _adaptive instinct_. It would
perhaps be better to say merely that the _tendency_ to imitate is part
of the _original equipment of man_.

Imitation is distinctively a human trait. While it occurs in lower
animals it is probably not an important factor in adjusting them to