^S E. L. THORNDIKE. 



US, henceforth, imitation will mean imitation minus the phenom- 

 ena of imitative birds. 



There are also certain pseudo-imitative or semi-imitative 

 phenomena which ought to be considered by themselves. For 

 example, the rapid loss of the fear of railroad trains or tele- 

 graph wires among birds, the rapid acquisition of arboreal 

 habits among Australian rodents, the use of proper feeding 

 grounds, etc., may be held to be due to imitation. The young 

 animal stays with or follows its mother from a specific instinct 

 to keep near that particular object, to wit, its mother. It may 

 thus learn to stay near trains, or scrabble up trees, or feed at 

 certain places and on certain plants. Actions due to following 

 pure and simple may thus simulate imitation. Other groups of 

 acts which now seem truly imitative may be indirect fruits of 

 some one instinct. This must be kept in mind when one esti- 

 mates the supposed imitation of parents by young. Further, it 

 is certain that in the case of the chick, where early animal life 

 has been carefully observed, instinct and individual experience 

 between them rob imitation of practically all its supposed in- 

 fluence. Chicks get along without a mother very well. Yet 

 no mother takes more care of her children than the hen. Care in 

 other cases, then, need not mean instruction through imitation. 



These considerations may prevent an unreserved acceptance 

 of the common view that young animals get a great number of 

 their useful habits from imitation, but I do not expect or desire 

 them to lead to its summary rejection. I should not now myself 

 reject it, though I think it quite possible that more investigation 

 and experiment may finally reduce all the phenomena of so- 

 called imitation of parents by young to the level of indirect 

 results of instinctive acts. 



Another special department of imitation may be at least 

 vaguely marked off: namely, apparent imitation of certain 

 limited sorts of acts which are somewhat frequent in the animal's 

 life. An example will do better than further definition. 



Some sheep were being driven on board ship one at a time. 

 In the course of their progress they had to jump over a hurdle. 

 On this being removed before all had passed it, the next sheep 

 was seen to jump as if to get over a hurdle, and so on for five 



