Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each example by whether it is filial imprinting or sexual imprinting.
Groups: Filial imprinting · Sexual imprinting
- A zebra finch raised by a foster species courts that species as an adult
- A duckling stays close to a human it encountered right after hatching
- A male bird raised by foster parents later prefers mates resembling them
- A gosling follows the first large moving object it sees hours after hatching
Hints
- Ask WHAT the imprint shapes and WHEN it is expressed.
- Following-a-parent-figure now is filial; shaping adult MATE preference (expressed later) is sexual.
Show the answer
Filial imprinting: A gosling follows the first large moving object it sees hours after hatching, A duckling stays close to a human it encountered right after hatching
Sexual imprinting: A zebra finch raised by a foster species courts that species as an adult, A male bird raised by foster parents later prefers mates resembling them
Why
Filial imprinting forms an attachment to a parental figure, expressed within hours; sexual imprinting shapes adult mate preference, expressed only much later in adulthood. The tell is whether the effect is 'who to follow now' versus 'who to court as an adult'.
Practise Imprinting and Sensitive Periods
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More questions on Imprinting and Sensitive Periods
- Lorenz's goslings imprinted on him though he offered no food. Why does that make imprinting different from…
- A gosling will imprint on and follow a bouncing ball it encounters during the sensitive period, even though…
- Order the steps of filial imprinting in a newly hatched gosling.
- Lorenz's goslings followed him. If imprinting is an adaptation for recognising your mother, why is the…
- Select every statement that is TRUE about imprinting and its timing.
- A zebra finch raised by foster parents of another species courts that species when adult, even after years…