An Analysis of Learning in Young Anatidae

The Development of Learned Auditory Discriminations in the Context of Post-Natal Filial Imprinting in Young Precocial Birds

“…This result has been obtained for several species of ground-nesting waterfowl (10,27,38), domestic chicks (12) and Ring-billed Gulls Larus delawarensis (16,21).…”

“…In addition, auditory stimuli themselves can be learned during filial imprinting sessions and provide a basis for subsequent discriminations between familiar and novel stimuli (26). The development of learned auditory discriminations in the context of filial imprinting has commonly been referred to as auditory imprinting (2,26,29,32,38,47).…”

Directional responses by kittens to an auditory stimulus

“…Directional responding to sound is, however, a particularly important aspect of auditory function. First, the biological significance of such responses in the establishment and maintenance of social relationships is evident from the literature on imprinting and the development of early approach responses in avian species (Beer, 1970a,b;Collias & Collias, 1956;Evans, 1970;Gottlieb, 1965Gottlieb, , 1971Gottlieb, , 1974Klopfer, 1959;Sluckin, 1965;Smith, 1969). Second, in relation to the growing literature on the development of structural and physiological properties of the auditory system, directional responses reflect a level of organization in the central nervous system beyond that required for simple responses to sounds such as the startle reflex or pinna movements and imply the existence of neural mechanisms necessary for localizing sounds in space. In previous studies of the development of directional responses to sound, we (Clements & Kelly, 1978;Kelly & Clements, 1977) employed guinea pigs as subjects because this species is highly precocial and can be tested shortly after birth.…”

A disjunctive analysis of neonatal approach stimulus prepotence

“…Many rhythmic, repetitive auditory stimuli have been shown to be sufficient to induce following in several species of newly hatched ducks, though as is the case with visual stimuli, some are more attractive than others (Klopfer, 1959). Indeed, preferences for certain auditory stimuli over others have been reported by several investigators.…”

“…It has been suggested that these individual differences between the auditory preference and visual preference ducklings represents a behavioral polymorphism . It is argued that these different response tendencies in the individuals ensure, through social facilitation, the development of the same response tendency in the entire group thus accounting for the behavioral synchrony a clutch of ducklings achieves (see Klopfer, 1959). Thus, despite the different developmental ages of the individuals of a clutch, they will all respond to the same imprinting stimulus, typically the female parent.…”