Observational learning and imitation of cats

In this classic experiment, cats that watched a trained demonstrator perform a lever-press for food learned the response faster than cats given only individual trial-and-error experience. The study provided early controlled evidence that cats can acquire instrumental behaviour by observing conspecifics, a finding that fed into long-running debates about whether non-primates are capable of social learning and imitation. Although interpretation of exactly what was copied remains discussed, the work helped establish the domestic cat as a model for studying how watching others shapes acquisition of new skills, and it is regularly cited in reviews of animal social learning.