Aim:
To investigate the mechanisms of imprinting where the youngsters follow and form an attachment to the first large, moving object that they meet
. Procedure: Lorenz (1935) split a large clutch of greylag goose eggs into two batches.
What was Lorenz theory?
Famously described by zoologist Konrad Lorenz in the 1930s, imprinting occurs when an animal forms an attachment to the first thing it sees upon hatching. Lorenz discovered that
newly hatched goslings would follow the first moving object they saw
— often Lorenz himself.
What did Konrad Lorenz study?
Konrad Lorenz, (born Nov. 7, 1903, Vienna, Austria—died Feb. 27, 1989, Altenburg), Austrian zoologist, founder of modern ethology, the
study of animal behaviour by means of comparative zoological methods
.
What was Lorenz critical period?
Lorenz shared the Nobel Prize in 1973 for elucidating the importance of critical periods. A critical period is a
restricted time window
in the life of an individual during which specific events must occur to ensure normal development.
What research method did Lorenz use?
Lorenz (1952)
Lorenz’s research suggests that
organisms have a biological propensity to form attachments to one single subject
. Lorenz conducted an experiment in which goslings were hatched either with their mother or in an incubator.
Who is the greatest ethologist?
- Ivan Pavlov.
- Karl Von Frisch.
- Niko Tinbergen.
- Konrad Lorenz.
- B. F. Skinner.
Do humans imprint on other humans?
Positive sexual imprinting is a process by which individuals use the phenotype of their opposite-sex parent as a template for acquiring mates. Recent studies in humans have concluded that an imprinting-like mechanism
influences
human mate choice in facial traits.
Who is father of ethology?
The father of ethology and the foster mother of ducks:
Konrad Lorenz
as expert on motherhood.
Why is Konrad Lorenz important?
Ethology. Lorenz is recognized as one of the founding fathers of the field of ethology, the study of animal behavior. He is best known for his
discovery of the principle of attachment, or imprinting
, through which in some species a bond is formed between a newborn animal and its caregiver.
Who invented ethology?
The modern discipline of ethology is generally considered to have begun during the 1930s with the work of
Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen (1907–1988)
and of Austrian biologists Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch (1886–1982), the three recipients of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
What age is the critical period?
The critical period for language-learning begins to close
around five years of age and ends around puberty
. This is why individuals who learn a new language after puberty almost always speak it with a foreign accent. Read more about: Brain Development.
What did Lorenz conclude from his study?
Lorenz found that
geese follow the first moving object they see
. This process is known as imprinting, and suggests that attachment is innate and programmed genetically.
Can humans imprint on animals?
The critical development period of mammals differs from birds.
Mammals do not visually imprint on their caregivers
, but they can become tame or habituated to humans if not handled appropriately.
What is the Monotropic theory?
Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests
that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others
, because this will help them to survive. A child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure. This is called monotropy.
What are the stages of attachment?
For example, Schaffer and Emerson suggested that attachments develop in four stages:
asocial stage or pre-attachment
(first few weeks), indiscriminate attachment (approximately 6 weeks to 7 months), specific attachment or discriminate attachment (approximately 7-9 months) and multiple attachment (approximately 10 …
What is ethology theory?
Lesson Summary
Ethological theory
focuses on behavior and how behavior can change to achieve survival
. Darwin’s theories of evolution provided insight into the mysterious of behavior by suggesting that behavioral traits are not only biological, but inherited.
