A MODEL OF IMITATION LEARNING OF ALGORITHMS FROM WORKED EXAMPLES

Imitation is an important learning mechanism of widespread utility and common occurrence. This article presents a theory and working computational model of the detailed mechanisms of imitation. The model is in the restricted domain of the learning of pencil and paper procedures. The task that is modelled is of a teacher demonstrating the steps of a procedure, such as long division to a student by means of one or more examples. Such a task can be learned by an imitation-learning mechanism, but the mechanism has a much wider range of application. Imitation is treated as a four-stage process: the events performed by the teacher are segmented by the learner; the events are encoded and explained in terms of spatial relations between objects; repeated patterns in the events are recognized; and finally, different examples are merged together. This model is implemented as a computer program learning algorithms from worked examples (LAWE).