Lorenz's gosling study (imprinting)

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  • Created by: Georgia
  • Created on: 02-05-19 13:04
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  • Lorenz's imprinting goslings (1935)
    • Aim
      • To investigate how imprinting works
    • Procedure
      • Split gosling eggs into two batches; one with Lorenz and one with the goose mother
      • Recorded all behaviour that occurred following imprinting
    • Findings
      • Immediate imprinting was identified
      • When both batches put together and then separated, both went to imprinted caregiver
      • Imprinting could only occur between 4 and 25 hours after birth
      • Once complete, imprinting cannot be reversed
    • Evaluation
      • Irreversible suggests biological basis, as learned experiences can change through experience
      • Comparative psychology (assumes animals are humans are the same)
        • Humans are much more complex and so we can't generalise
      • Influenced Bowlby's critical period theory, which has helped to shape childcare today
      • Although better to use than humans, still unethical to use animals in research
      • Irreversability refuted by Guiton et al (1966)
        • Chickens imprinted on rubber gloves but then learned to mate with other chickens
    • Imprinting; a form of attachment where offspring follow the first large moving object they see

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