Animal Studies; Lorenz

Animal Studies; Lorenz

1. Divided a clutch of goose eggs in two halves

2. One half hatched naturally with the mother (control group)

3. One half hatched in an incubator with Lorenz as the first moving object they saw

4. Marked the goslings and placed them under an upturned box, then removed it and recorded their behaviour

5. Findings

   • Incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere
   • Control group followed their mother everywhere
   • Groups were mixed & incubator group still continued to follow Lorenz
   • Critical period (4-25 hours depending on species) in which imprinting must occur or the chicks would not attach to a mother figure
   • Reported that the goslings which imprinted on humans would later attempt to mate with humans

6. Sexual Imprinting

   • Observed that birds imprinted on humans would display courtship behaviour towards humans when adults
   • Guiton
     • Chickens imprinted on washing up gloves
     • Found that even though sexual imprinting occurred they eventually learned to mate with their own species