Imprint: what is this type of learning?
The term imprint refers to a way of acquiring apprenticeships basic for the survival of a species. It is a phenomenon in which psychic, biological and social processes converge.
Although it is a concept that has arisen through biological studies, it has adapted in an important way to psychology and has contributed different ways of understanding the development of the human being. Next, we review what imprint learning is all about, what its background is and what applications it has in psychology today.
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What is the imprint?
The word "imprint" can mean different things. Generally refers to a mark, footprint or reproduction of images on a relief. If we take of psychology and biology, the term "imprint" is used to describe a learning set in a specific period of development in which a human being or an animal is more sensitive to certain stimuli.
In other words, an imprint is a learning that we have acquired by the recognition of certain stimulus, in a determined stage of development . The stimulus towards which our sensitivity is directed generally depends on the survival needs of the species.
For example, most imprints involve learning to recognize parents or potential sexual partners. The study of this type of learning it has developed in an important way in ethology (the branch of biology that studies animal behavior in its own habitat), especially has been observed in the behavior of birds.
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Background: Konrad Lorenz and the geese family
The pioneer in this type of studies was the American physician and zoologist Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989), considered one of the fathers of ethology. Lorenz studied the behavior of geese, and their knowledge has been applied to reproduce animal habitats where it has been achieved that the youngest acquire skills for survival , although they are raised in captivity.
In fact, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 for having described the imprint, and they gave it to him because the judges considered that his studies could contribute significant knowledge to psychiatry. That is to say, that since the second half of the last century, the imprint has also developed in the study of human behavior.
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Types of imprinting in the study of behavior
Both in ethology and in psychology, imprinting can occur in different ways and according to the characteristics of the species itself. However, in general terms, Two types of imprint are recognized , basic and necessary for the survival of any species: the filial imprint and the sexual imprint.
1. Filial stamp
The concept of imprinting has been applied frequently in the attachment theory of psychology, with which, it has been related in an important way with the filial relationships and how these are basic for survival.
The latter is known as a "filial imprint", and it is an innate mechanism that is activated when a young animal recognizes the characteristics of its parents , specifically of the mother, who is usually the first being that is observed at birth.
The filial imprint has been observed in both birds and reptiles, and subsequently in other species. From this it has been suggested that recognition and monitoring of parents at an early age makes it possible that the offspring move away and protect themselves against predators . It also facilitates the learning necessary to obtain the food, water and heat that parents initially provide.
For this, it is necessary to consider how the senses are structured and how they connect with cognitive processes. In this sense, neuroscience and cognitive sciences have had a particular interest in the study of imprinting.
For example, it has been used in an important way to explain the phenomenon of memory through visual impressions . Many of theories about memory suggest that any experience or event strengthens and shapes particular pathways in the brain, which may correspond to much of the imprint theory.
2. Sexual imprint
It is a process by which an animal learns to recognize the characteristics of a desirable sexual partner. One of its effects is, for example, the tendency of living beings to relate to the beings of the species in which they were raised ; those that have characteristics similar to those recognized by the filial imprint.
In the case of human beings, for example, the inverse effect of sexual imprinting has been studied when coexistence occurs in the same domestic space. It is one of the ways to explain why it usually happens that brothers who have been raised together do not develop sexual attraction with each other; however, if they are raised separately, this could happen more easily.
This last effect is known as the Westermarck Effect, by the anthropologist who developed it (Edvard Westermarck), and it has been useful to analyze how endogamy has been suppressed between different human societies.
Bibliographic references:
- Horn, G. (2004). Pathways of the past: the imprint of memory. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5: 108-120.
- New World Encyclopedia. (2018). Imprinting (psychology). Retrieved May 28, 2018. Available at //www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Imprinting_(psychology).
- Squire, L. (2003). Fundamental Neuroscience. Academic Press: USA.
