Lorenz Flashcards
1
Q
ad of Lorenz
A
- other studies support the idea that animals are born w/ an instinct to attach to the first moving object they see
- psych demonstrated that chickens exposed to yellow rubber gloves during feeding in their first few weeks of life, imprinted on the gloves
2
Q
disad of Lorenz
A
- imprinting is more reversible than Lorenz thoguht
- same psych found that he could reverse the imprinting in chicken that had initially tried to mate w/ the yellow rubber gloves
- after spending time w/ their own species, they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour w/ other chickens
3
Q
long-term effects of imprinting
A
- found that process of imprinting is irreversible + long lasting
- discovered that this early imprinting had an effect on later mate preferences = sexual imprinting
- animals will choose to mate w/ the same kind of object upon which they were imprinted
4
Q
procedure - Lorenz imprinting
A
- Lorenz was an ethologist + wanted to investigate imprinting
= the instinct in several species of animals to attach to the first moving thing they see after they are born - Lorenz took a clutch of gosling eggs
- divided them into two groups
- one group left to hatch w/ their natural mother present
- other eggs placed in an incubator
- when eggs in incubator hatched, first moving thing they say was Lorenz
- Lorenz, marked the two groups to distinguish between them
- placed them all together again
5
Q
findings - Lorenz imprinting
A
- Goslings quickly divided themselves up
- one group following their natural mother
- incubator eggs following Lorenz = had no recognition of their natural mother
- found that process of imprinting is restricted to the critical period = 2 days
- if its not exposed to a moving object during this critical period = won’t imprint
- Lorenz had to teach goslings how to swim
- they would always return to him when they called