1. Konrad Lorenz (1903 – 1989) The Founder of Ethology (the study of animals in their natural environment)

2. Dr. Lorenz

3. Cont.

4. Imprinting: duckling transferred it’s response to him

5. Imprinting The primary formation of social bonds in infant animals. Also considered a special type of learning. The newly hatched goslings and ducklings followed and became socially bonded to the first moving object they encountered. Even at maturity, these animals tried to court and attempted to mate with humans if they were imprinted to them. A young bird does not instinctively recognize adult members of it’s own species but require this special type of learning.

6. cont,. Bond formed immediately to moving object and is irreversible. Only a few species of birds exhibit this kind of behavior It is essential in learning that what has been learned can be either forgotten or modified. Imprinting is restricted to very specific and brief stages in development, often only lasting a few hours.

7. Cont. Lorenz argued against the position of extreme behaviorism that rejected the relevance of instinct. He was instrumental in establishing an understanding that innate behaviors play a central role in the adaptations of organisms and the evolutionary process underlies the development of behavior.

8. Cont. Lorenz’ hope was that he had proved one thing: “that the study of instinctive behavior is not a field for extensive philosophical speculation, but one in which, at least for the time being, experimental analysis of each individual case is the only legitimate procedure.”

9. Cont. 1966 – wrote On Aggression Animal aggressive behavior is motivated by survival, while human aggressive behavior may be channeled or modified. Other books: King Solomon’s Ring (1949); Man Meets Dog (1950); The Eight Deadly Sins of Civilized Humanity, and The Decay of the Humane. 1973 – Nobel Prize winner for his studies of human and animal behavior.

10. References Hess, Eckhard. Imprinting: Early Experience and the Developmental Psychobiology of Attachment.1973 Sluckin, W. Imprinting and Early Learning. Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago. 1965. Pages 6-16. Hess, Eckhard and Petrovich, Slobodan. Imprinting.1977 Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross Inc. Schiller, Claire. Instinctive Behavior. 1957. Hallmark Press, New York