Ethology

Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour considered as a branch of zoology. A scientist who practises ethology is called an ethologist.

Imprinting

A second important finding of Lorenz concerned the early learning of young nidifugous birds, a process he called imprinting. Lorenz observed that the young of birds such as geese and chickens spontaneously followed their mothers from almost the first day after they were hatched, and he discovered that this following response could be transferred to an arbitrary stimulus if the eggs were incubated artificially and the stimulus was presented during a critical period (now called a sensitive period) that covered the few days after hatching. The concept of imprinting has been widely adopted in developmental psychology.

Related Topics:
Nidifugous - Imprinting - Geese - Chicken - Developmental psychology

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