Lorenz - Geese

• Procedure

  • divide clutch of eggs in two, half raised by mother and other Half were in an incubator
  • the first thing the incubator group saw was Lorenz other group saw mother first
• Findings

  • Incubator group followed Lorenz wherever he went , control group followed mother
  • when both groups were mixed went to primary caregiver so incubator went straight to Lorenz
• Imprinting

  • Birds attach to and follow first moving object they see
• Critical Period

  • the time imprinting must take place - as little as a few hours
• Evaluation

  • strength - support of imprinting idea
  • support view - young animals are born with innate mechanism on moving image that it present in critical window
  • Limitation - only studied on non-human animals so can't say humans act the same way
  • limitation - only done research on birds so don't know if they will act the same way as mammals
  • Limitation - parent's show more emotional reaction and can form attachment after first few hours of birth
  • Limitation overview - research can't necessarily be extrapolated to human population