Who conducted the primary work on imprinting?

Who conducted the primary work on imprinting?

• A. Konrad Lorenz
• B. Jean Piaget
• C. Erik Erikson
• D. Carl Rogers

Answer: (A)

Imprinting is an early-life, rapid learning form in which a young animal forms a strong attachment to the first moving object it encounters during a limited critical period. Konrad Lorenz conducted the primary work on this phenomenon, showing that goslings and ducklings would imprint on the first moving thing they see after hatching—even a human observer—and would follow it thereafter. His experiments demonstrated the existence of a critical period for this attachment and helped establish imprinting as a fundamental concept in ethology, the study of animal behavior in natural contexts. Piaget, Erikson, and Rogers are important figures in development and psychology, but their work centers on cognitive development, psychosocial development, and humanistic therapy, respectively. They did not originate or pioneer imprinting the way Lorenz did.

Imprinting is an early-life, rapid learning form in which a young animal forms a strong attachment to the first moving object it encounters during a limited critical period. Konrad Lorenz conducted the primary work on this phenomenon, showing that goslings and ducklings would imprint on the first moving thing they see after hatching—even a human observer—and would follow it thereafter. His experiments demonstrated the existence of a critical period for this attachment and helped establish imprinting as a fundamental concept in ethology, the study of animal behavior in natural contexts.

Piaget, Erikson, and Rogers are important figures in development and psychology, but their work centers on cognitive development, psychosocial development, and humanistic therapy, respectively. They did not originate or pioneer imprinting the way Lorenz did.