Lorenz-style researchers expose newly hatched goslings to a moving red ball during their first 18 hours of life. The goslings then follow the ball as if it were their mother. Goslings first exposed at 36 hours fail to imprint on any object thereafter. A parallel group of newborn ducklings exposed only to recorded human speech does not begin treating it as a mother call.
The 18- versus 36-hour difference primarily illustrates:
- A
Vicarious learning
- B
Operant shaping of attachment
- Ccheck_circle
A critical period for imprinting
- D
Object permanence
Explanation
Lorenz showed imprinting occurs only within a narrow critical period after hatching; outside it, imprinting cannot be acquired.