Youngsters follow and form an attachment with the first largemoving object they meet
What was Lorenz’ procedure?
Randomly split goose eggs into two groups: one naturally hatched by mother, other hatched by Lorenz, who made sure he was first moving thing the goslings saw
What did Lorenz find?
Naturally hatched goslings followed their mothers around, incubated ones followed Lorenz around
The bonds were irreversible, goslings didn’t go to their mother when Lorenz was there
Imprinting only occurs in a critical period of 4-25 hours after hatching
Goslings imprinted on humans would try to mate with them
What are the strengths of Lorenz’ study?
Criticalperiod influenced Bowlby’s research
Sexual advances suggest the importance of behaviour on future relationships
What does it suggest if imprinting is irreversible?
Under biological control
What are the issues with Lorenz’ study?
Extrapolation issues, may not tell us about humans
