ABSTRACT
O. H. Mowrer states that sounds must be associated with reinforcement for talking birds to imitate them. The experiment showed that reinforcement did not play a part in determining which sounds the mynas would imitate. Mowrer believes that imitation learning by talking birds can be taken as a model for other kinds of imitation. The subjects were two groups of Indian Hill Mynas bought as "gapers" and aged about 8 months at the start of the experiment. To give Mowrer's theory priority, each group heard first the whistle associated with reinforcement, the number of repetitions of each whistle being gradually increased from 10 to 30 per session. Mowrer's theory was welcome in that it showed that this particular kind of imitation learning could be explained in terms of accepted principles of learning.
