Lorenz

• study on geese to investigate imprinting and critical period
• Lorenz found that goslings would follow any moving object if they saw it within the first few hours of life, for the control group - they followed the mother and for the incubator group they followed Lorenz
• critical period is when animals are most sensitive to learning about their environment
• imprinting is the process by which an animal forms its first attachment
• this research shows how important the critical period is for attaching to a primary care-giver
• once hatched the two groups were mixed up and Lorenz observed who/what they followed
• he varied the time between birth and seeing a moving object so he could measure the critical period for imprinting