What animal did Lorenz study in his imprinting study?
Geese
What was the procedure in Lorenz's study?
Randomly divided goose eggs, half were hatched with the mother goose and half were hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
What was the first group in Lorenz's study?
Eggs hatched with mother
What was the second group in Lorenz's study?
Eggs hatched in incubator
Which group followed Lorenz everywhere?
Incubator group
Which group followed the mother goose everywhere?
Control group
Which group was the control group in Lorenz's study?
Hatched with mother
What happened when the two groups were mixed up?
The control group continued to follow the mother goose and the incubator group continued following Lorenz
What is imprinting?
Where birdsattach to and follow the first moving object they see
What critical period did Lorenz identify?
A few hours
What did Lorenz suggest happens if imprinting does not occur within the critical period?
No attachment at all
What did Lorenz also investigate alongside imprinting?
Sexual imprinting
What did Lorenz observe in terms of sexual imprinting?
Birds imprinted on a human would later display courtship behaviour towards humans
What was the procedure in Lorenz's case study on sexual imprinting?
Peacock reared with tortoises
What was the findings in Lorenz's case study on sexual imprinting?
Peacock would only direct courtship behaviour towards tortoises
Strength: Lorenz
What? Research support
Who? Regolin and Vallortigara - chicks followed shapes when moved in front of them
Why? Supports imprinting in a critical period
Limitation: Lorenz
What? Generalisability to humans
Who? Mammalian attachment system different to birds (two-way)