An echoic is a verbal operant which occurs in response to the verbal behavior of another person (or to a textual prompt such as a written model). It is the point-to-point (i.e. word for word) imitation of the model.The ability to imitate is necessary for the acquisition of many skills including language.n echoic is a verbal operant which occurs in response to the verbal behavior of another person (or to a textual prompt such as a written model). It is the point-to-point (i.e. word for word) imitation of the model.