IMPRINTING AND SHORT‐TERM RETENTION

Abstract

In the first of three experiments chicks imprinted to a moving object were found to discriminate between the original and new moving objects significantly better after an interval of some minutes than immediately after ‘training’. In the second experiment similarly imprinted chicks were tested for discrimination between the initial object and a strange one when these objects were stationary. In these circumstances discrimination tended to be rather poorer after a time interval than immediately after training. In the third experiment imprinted chicks were tested with the familiar object only for following, and not for discrimination, at different times after training. Following was found to improve after some separation from the object. This recovery from ‘drive satiation’ is thought to account for the reminiscence‐like phenomenon found in the first experiment.