To examine facilitative effects of experiential cognition in imitation learning, we conducted three experiments using varied observation and imitation tasks of a nursing action involving the movement of a sham patient (university student) from a bed to a wheelchair. The basic imitation task was to observe a videotape of the nursing action performed by an expert, and then to imitate it with the patient. Participants in Experiment 1 (N = 75) saw photographs of the patient in the bed and then in the wheelchair and based only on this information moved the patient without observing the videotape. Participants in Experiment 2 (N = 15) observed the videotape and imitated the movement of the patient. Thereafter, participants in Experiments 1 and 2 received the basic imitation task. Participants in Experiment 3 (N = 17) observed the videotape as many times as they wanted, and imitated the nursing action with pantomiming without the patient, and then with the patient. The results showed that preceding experiential cognition, i.e., estimation of actions (Exp. 1), repetition of the observation and performance (Exp. 2), and self-paced repetition of the observation (Exp. 3) improve performance in the successive imitation task. We conclude that the combination of estimation, observation, and pantomime of actions is a promising method for imitation learning of such pragmatic skills as nursing actions.
