lorenz

• P: a number of other studies have demonstrated imprinting in animals

  E: guiton demonstrated that chicks, exposed to yellow rubber gloves while being fed became imprinted on the gloves. this supports that young animals are not born with a predisposition to imprint on a specific object but on any moving thing. guiton found that male chickens later tried to mate with the gloves showing early imprinting is linked to later reproductive behaviour
• link for guiton

  L: therefore, guiton's findings provide clear support for lorenz's original research and conclusions
• P: there is some dispute over the characteristics of imprinting

  E: for many years, the accepted view of imprinting was an irreversible process. now, it is understood that imprinting is a more 'plastic and forgiving mechanism'. for example, guiton found he could reverse imprinting in chickens that had tried to mate with rubber gloves. He found that later, after spending time with their own species, they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens
• link for criticisms of imprinting

  L: this suggests that imprinting may not, after all, be so very different from any other kind of learning. learning can also take place rapidly, with little conscious effort, and is also fairly reversible