Animal Studies: Lorenz

Question 1

what was the aim of the study?

Answer 1

to examine the phenomenon of imprinting in non-human animals

Question 2

imprinting

Answer 2

where the offspring forms an attachment bond to the first large moving object they see after birth

Question 3

what was the method?

Answer 3

• randomly divided 12 greylag geese into 2 batches
• control group hatched naturally by the mother
• experimental group placed in an incubator w/ Lorenz making sure he was the first moving thing they saw
• then marked the goslings, placed them in an upside down box

Question 4

what were the results?

Answer 4

• straight after birth, naturally hatched followed mother, incubator hatched followed lorenz
• imprinting only occurred in critical period
• relationship persisted over time and proved irreversible

Question 5

Lorenz’s conclusion

Answer 5

• imprinting is an attachment exhibited by birds that typically leave the nest early
• discovered sexual imprinting, where animals will choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they were imprinting

Question 6

strengths of Lorenzo study

Answer 6

Research Support
- e.g guilton demonstrated that leghorn chicks, exposed to yellow rubber gloves for feeding imprinted on the gloves
Valuable Information Gained
- suggested a critical period for attachment which influenced bowlbys idea in critical period in babies

Question 7

limitations of Lorenz’s study

Answer 7

Criticisms of imprinting
- permanent consequences for for later mating behaviour, chickens tried mating w/ rubber gloves
Limitations Generalising
- findings focused on birds but the mammalian attachment system is different