The second task has been used in several studies of social
learning on pigeons (Giraldeau and Lefebvre 1987; Giraldeau
and Templeton 1991). The design involves an apparatus
containing hidden food that na¨ıve, hungry pigeons
cannot find on their own (control pre-test). A shaped bird
then performs an apparatus-opening technique in front of
the na¨ıve observer, which is then tested with the closed apparatus
in the absence of the demonstrator. The latency to
first opening of the apparatus is a measure of social learning,
all subsequent openings benefiting from personal information
about the apparatus. This design can only test for
generic social learning and does not discriminate between
the possible mechanisms (imitation, stimulus enhancement,
goal emulation) that underlie learning in this situation.