Lorenz

• When did Lorenz carry out his study into geese?

  1935
• What was the aim of Lorenz's 1935 geese study?

  To investigate how baby geese form attachments as soon as they are born and whether this affects them in later life.
• Outline the procedure of Lorenz's 1935 geese study

  Lorenz randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs.

  
  

  Half of the eggs hatched naturally with their mother. The other half of the eggs hatched in an incubator with Lorenz being the first thing they saw.

  
  

  A short time after their birth, Lorenz put both groups of geese into a container to mix them up and released them to see who they would go to.
• What were the findings of Lorenz's 1935 geese study?

  The half of the goslings that were hatched with the mother followed her around.

  
  

  The half of the goslings that were hatched with Lorenz followed him around.
• What concept did Lorenz's geese study lead him to coin?

  Imprinting
• Define imprinting


  The tendency of animals to attach to the first large moving object they see after birth.
• When does imprinting occur?

  Between 13 and 16 hours after birth
• What did Lorenz describe as the critical period?

  The first 32 hours of the animals birth. If the infant doesn't imprint in this time, it likely won't ever
• When did Lorenz carry out his case study into sexual imprinting?

  1952
• What did Lorenz find in his 1952 case study investigating sexual imprinting?

  A peacock who first saw a moving giant tortoise after hatching would only direct courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises as an adult. This is sexual imprinting.