Mirrors are wonderful things. You can learn so much from using them.

Last week I discussed the learning principle called modeling. The example of others is a powerful way to teach behavior, especially social behavior.

But there is one type of model that is the most powerful of all: the self.

Dancers understand this principle well. Their proprioception, or awareness of body in space, does not always serve them well enough to help them understand what they need to do to refine their movements. They augment by using mirrors during rehearsal.

Other disciplines that involve body movement use videotape (and sometimes computer-assisted evaluations) to capture these fine distinctions. Slowing down the tape, even to the point of going frame-to-frame, affords trainer and trainee a much more comprehensive evaluation and finitely focuses the training.

Videotaped self-modeling (VSM) is a specific application of this principle that facilitates the initial learning process. It's more than a simple video of someone doing an activity. It's a process by which a new behavior sequence can be taught.

For instance, in my capstone undergraduate research project, I used VSM to teach children with high functioning autism or Asperger's Disorder (a form of autism) to fold an origami crane. This was no small feat: to learn to do a complex (more than 30 steps) sequence of behaviors toward an identified goal is a difficult task for individuals on the autism spectrum.

Here's how it worked: the child was introduced to the process as they imitated someone else folding the paper. We videotaped this initial teaching sequence, then edited out all the mistakes. The result was multiple child-specific videotapes that showed the children successfully folding the crane.

Thereafter, each time the children were asked to fold the crane, we showed them their own tape first, and allowed them to review each step they could not remember, as the need arose. We compared the number of attempts to fold the crane, and the number of prompts needed to complete the crane, with the same measures taken from the group that were taught to fold the crane in person but who had to later look at a sequence of pictures of an adult's hands doing the task.

It should not come as a surprise that the results favored VSM over the still picture prompts (a technique, called picture scheduling, that is commonly used in schools). There was much more information available to the children. Each fold was the result of a sequence of many minute movements.

Watching that sequence actually caused their brains to practice the neuronal firing sequence necessary to do the task. The same practicing happens when you watch someone else do the task, but the brain has no memories associated with the task that it can rely upon to facilitate the process. Therefore, watching yourself do something is more powerful than watching someone else.

But there was one more, very important, aspect of this experiment. Each child was glad to have finally mastered the task. However, only the children in the VSM group found personal satisfaction in their success. This is a significant difference: when a person's self-image, self-esteem and self-worth are improved when they master a new skill, they have improved their belief in their abilities to cope in this world. They have moved a step closer to optimum mental health.

Grace MacDowell, M.A., of Auburn, is completing her doctorate in clinical psychology. She can be reached at drmac2be@yahoo.com