Imitation in Split-Brain Monkeys

Three experienced split-brain monkeys were taught a visual pattern discrimination in one eye hemisphere. After several hundred over-learning trials, the opposite untrained eye hemisphere was allowed to observe 40 perfect trials. Subsequently, ten test trial,s in which every response was reinforced were delivered exclusively to the untrained hemisphere. Two monkeys performed perfectly while another required 40 additional observation trials before a perfect score was realized. The results are consistent with the view that errors during acquisition training need not be a necessary condition for visual discrimination learning and suggest that learning through observation may be more efficient than trial and error learning in some situations.