Imitation is often thought of as a low-level, cognitively undemanding, even childish form of behavior, but recent work across a variety of sciences argues that imitation is a rare ability that is fundamentally linked to characteristically human forms of intelligence, in particular to language, culture, and the ability to understand other minds. This burgeoning body of  work has important implications for our understanding of ourselves, both individually and socially. Imitation is not just an important factor in human development, it also has a pervasive influence throughout adulthood in ways we are just starting to understand.

From Introduction: The Importance of Imitation pg. 1, in,
Perspectives on Imitation: From Neuroscience to Social Science
Volume 1: Mechanisms of Imitation and Imitation in Animals
edited by Susan Hurley and Nick Chater