For a bat, an echo is a steering signal, not a repetition
When a bat flies and calls, the sound bounces off objects and returns as an echo. That returning sound is information: it tells the bat about distance and surroundings. In a laboratory study, bats trained to land on a perch adjusted their call levels as they approached, and this echo-level compensation depended on how far they were from the perch [1]. In other words, the echo is part of a feedback loop the bat uses to fine-tune its voice in real time.
The striking part is what happens under noise. When broadcast noise was played, the bats' compensation was delayed and its rate changed, and the bats also got louder—the Lombard effect, the same tendency people show when talking in a loud room—while also altering call duration and bandwidth as noise rose [1]. Quantitative analysis indicated the bats were relying on echo feedback, not vocal feedback, to make these adjustments [1]. That suggests echolocating animals and non-echolocating animals may modify their voices through different mechanisms [1].
In children with autism, echoing is a skill that can open the door to speech
In behavioral work with children with autism, "echoic" refers to repeating vocal speech that someone else produces. A chart review of 118 children who received early intensive behavioral intervention found that three skills predicted whether a child would echo: having a mand repertoire (the ability to make requests), vocal play, and motor imitation [2][4]. Children who could make requests were more than 3.5 times as likely to also show echoic behavior [2][4]. The statistical model explained 86% of the variance in echoic behavior and correctly classified 95.8% of cases, which indicates these skills are strongly associated with echoing—though the authors note that a functional relationship still needs confirmation [2][4].
Echoing also appears useful as a teaching tool. In a study of three children with autism, ages 10–12, who used iPad-based speech-generating devices, echoic prompting combined with manipulating reinforcer magnitude increased the frequency of spoken requests for all three participants, and one child began using spoken language exclusively even when the device was available [3]. This is a small study, so the result is suggestive rather than general, but it shows that echoic prompts can be a route toward independent speech.
The same word covers two different jobs
The bat and the child are not doing the same thing. The bat's echo is a physical reflection of its own call, used as navigational feedback [1]. The child's echo is a repetition of another person's speech, used in social and language learning [2][3][4]. Keeping these apart matters: findings about bat sonar do not tell us how echoic speech works in children, and vice versa. What they share is that the returning sound—whether a sonar reflection or a repeated word—can be a signal the brain uses to adjust what it does next.
Sources used in this answer
Echo feedback mediates noise-induced vocal modifications in flying bats
Echolocating bats adjusted their calls using echo feedback rather than vocal feedback when compensating for noise, and broadcast noise delayed and changed the rate of this compensation.
Understanding Echoics: Identifying Predictive Indicators of Vocal Imitation
In 118 children with autism, having a mand repertoire, vocal play, and motor imitation predicted echoic behavior, with mand repertoire associated with more than 3.5 times higher likelihood of echoing.
An Evaluation of Reinforcer Magnitude and Echoic Prompts on Vocal Requesting of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Echoic prompting plus manipulated reinforcer magnitude increased spoken requests in three children with autism who used speech-generating devices, and one child began using spoken language exclusively.
Understanding Echoics: Identifying the Predictive Indicators of Imitative Vocal Speech
The same chart review of 118 children with autism identified mand repertoire, vocal play, and motor imitation as predictors of echoic verbal behavior, though a functional relationship remains to be confirmed.
Task learning drives adaptive vocal adjustments in echolocating bats
Task learning shapes adaptive vocal adjustments in echolocating bats, with experiments using virtual echoes at different levels to test how learning affects call production.