Animal Psychology Advanced - Qp3

Imprinting refers to a critical period of time early in an animal’s life when it forms attachments and develops a concept of its own identity.

______ discovered that, when young birds first hatch, they become attached to the first moving object they encounter.

Imprinting has four major characteristics.

Imprinted knowledge is retained for life.

If there is an increased level of stress at the time of the original imprinting, the learning is stronger than normal.

Reinforcement is a type of consequence that decreases the likelihood of a given behaviour, and punishment is a type of consequence that increases the likelihood of a given behaviour.

Operant deconditioning enables an animal to associate events over which it has control.

Reinforcers can be either primary or secondary.

Contiguity is the principle stating that events that occur together will become associated.