Lorenz- animal attachment study

aim of lorenz’s study

investigate imprinting in greylag geese

what is imprinting

process where newborn birds form a strong attachment to the first moving object they see, usually parent, during a brief critical period after birth

Lorenz procedure

• randomly divided clutch of goose eggs

• half hatched in incubator (first moving object Lorenz), other half hatched naturally (w mum)

• mixed groups to see who they followed

• varied time between hatching and first exposure to moving object (study time of imprinting)

• observed as adults (long-term behaviour)

Lorenz findings

• incubator hatched gosling followed Lorenz, hatched with mother followed her even after mixing

• imprinting strongest within first few hours

• critical window of 16-24 hours

  • LTE: geese that imprinted on Lorenz showed mating behaviour to humans

why did Lorenz mix the groups

give them a chance to re-imprint on their own groups

Lorenz conclusion

• imprinting is a rapid, irreversible process

• occurs during a limited critical period early in life

• evolved survival mechanism- keep young animals close to caregiver for protection

strength of Lorenz’s research- scientific value

• strong scientific evidence that imprinting is an innate process

• experimental work under controlled conditions increases scientific credibility and validity

• reliability of findings supported by replications in other species, e.g. horses

• confirm young animals form instinctive attachments to caregiver figure w/o reinforcement

• enhances scientific value- strong replicable evidence

weakness of Lorenz research- limited applicability to human attachment

1. human babies can’t follow like goslings- cannot show imprinting in same way

2. imprinting vs human attachment- imprinting in geese happens instinctively/quickly, human attachment takes longer to develop, involving emotions/thoughts/social interactions- more complex than imprinting

3. two-way bond in humans- doesnt happen in birds, humans adults and baby develop a bond

work helps understand imprinting in animals, not much help for human attachment formation

counterpoint of weakness- influenced Bowlby’s theory of attachment

• believed human attachment is an evolved instinct to help babies survive

• geese and babies try to stay close to main caregiver

• bowlby said bond needs to form within a critical period

• similarities - Lorenz’s work helped shaped understanding of human attachment