imprinting, social learning and insight learning

• what is imprinting?


  a rapid learning process by which a newborn or a very young animal establishes a behaviour pattern of recognition and attraction to another animal of its own kind or to a substitute or an object identified as the parent
• filial imprinting : occurs when forming a strong attachment between an offspring and its parent or a parent-like figure.
• the attachment formed through filial imprinting can have significant impacts on the animals future behaviours such as mating preferences, social interactions and even survival
• visual imprinting : is more focused on visual stimuli, it can include attachment to non-parental figures. being who an animal sees first, you become their mother figure
• what is the significance of imprinting?


  • survival
  • social behaviour
  • conservation
• imprinting can help animals learn essential survival skills such as finding food
• understanding imprinting can be important for conservation efforts, as it can help researchers understand how animals choose their habitats and interact with each other
• what are altricial young?

  animals that are born or hatched into a relatively undeveloped state, requiring significant parental care for survival
• altricial young often have limited mobility, cannot regulate their body temperature and are unable to feed themselves
• altricial young generally have a slower rate of development
• what are precocial young?


  animals that are born or hatched into a relatively advanced state
• precocial young are often able to walk, feed themselves and regulate their body temperature, shortly after birth or hatching
• precocial young are generally more independent than altricial young, requiring less parental care
• precocial young generally have a faster rate of development
• what is sexual imprinting?

  it involves an individual forming a strong attachment to a particular type of individual or object, which contributes to their choice of mate later in life
• sexual imprinting occurs during a specific time window early in life outside of which it is much more difficult or impossible
• the individual or object sexually imprinted upon can significantly influence an animals choice of mate
• sexual imprinting can be based on visual cues, such as the appearance of a parent or siblings or auditory cues, such as a parents' song or call
• what is the social learning theory?


  posits that individuals learn by observing and imitating the behaviours of others
• what is insight learning?


  where an animal suddenly realises the solution to a problem without any prior trial and error