A01

• What did he study?

  Imprinting
• What animals did he experiment on?

  Goslings
• How did he separate the goslings?

  One half was hatched naturally with their mother

  Other half was in an incubator with Lorenz
• How did he ensure imprinting occurred?

  Marked both groups and placed them together with their mother. Observed how they separated themselves one half went with their mother and the other half went to Lorenz
• What were the short-term effects?

  Importance of survival, safety and food
• What were the long term effects?

  Ensuring the goslings mate with a member of its own
• Whats an example of the long term effects?

  Immelman: Experiment of zebra finches reared by Bengalese finches. Preferred to mate with their foster species
• When does imprinting take place?

  During the critical period
• When does imprinting take place for goslings?

  First 9-17 hours after hatching
• When does imprinting take place for ducks?

  Up to the first 50 hours after hatching
• What would occur if imprinting didn't take place?

  They will never form bonds with a mother figure
• What's a critical period?

  A restricted time period where certain events must take place for correct development
• Lorenz opinion of the critical period?

  Imprinting was genetically switched on the off at the end of the critical period
• What does imprinting involve?

  FAP - Fixed action potential

  IRM - Innate releasing mechanism

  Sign stimulus
• What type of animals can imprinting be seen in?

  Birds
• What is imprinting underpinned by?

  Genes
• Why is the critical period important?

  Difficult to learn outside the critical period
• Can imprinting be reversed?


  If imprinting is weak reversal is possible
• What is imprinting not apart of?

  A product of feeding
• How is Lorenz's theory generalised to humans?

  We're genetically programmed to make strong attachments