Development of preferences in white peking ducklings for stimuli in the natural post-hatch environment

Storey, Anne E.; Shapiro, Lee

doi:10.1016/0003-3472(79)90176-3

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The present results, along with those of Storey and Shapiro (1979),' suggest that the primacy of the hen in the establishment of social preference has been overestimated. Our results indicate that under the conditions in which the formation of the maternal bond normally occurs (at the nest with mother and siblings), social contact with broodmates may serve to impede the development of a maternal preference, so that active and continuous maternal involvement is necessary to both establish and maintain the social attraction for the hen on the part of the young ducklings.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Training ducklings in broods interferes with maternal imprinting

Lickliter

Gottlieb

1986

Developmental Psychobiology

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Under natural conditions, if maternal imprinting is to occur it must occur in a social situation which includes the presence of broodmates. In the laboratory it has been shown that social rearing with siblings prior to maternal imprinting interferes with the establishment of maternal imprinting, whereas social experience with siblings after maternal imprinting enhances the imprinting experience. The present study examined the influence of social experience with broodmates during an imprinting trial on the establishment of a visually imprinted maternal preference in domestic mallard ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos). Twenty-four-hour-old ducklings were allowed to follow a stuffed mallard hen for 30 min either individually or in a brood of four same-aged ducklings. The birds trained alone subsequently showed an imprinted preference for the familiar mallard hen over an unfamiliar pintail hen or four stuffed ducklings in simultaneous choice tests at 48 and 72 hr after hatching. Ducklings trained with broodmates did not show a preference for the familiar mallard hen over the unfamiliar pintail hen and displayed a preference for the stuffed ducklings over the mallard hen at 48 and 72 hr choice tests. These results demonstrate that even brief (30 min) experience with siblings during a maternal imprinting trial results in peer imprinting that interferes with the establishment of maternal imprinting. These and other results of a similar sort render dubious the significance of most laboratory studies of imprinting for an understanding of such events in nature.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Training ducklings in broods interferes with maternal imprinting

Lickliter

Gottlieb

1986

Developmental Psychobiology

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“…This finding contradicts the commonly held assumption that young precocial birds ignore the distress calls of siblings (e.g., Thorpe, 1961), but is consistent with the facts that ducklings form very strong sibling bonds (Lorenz, 1935;Storey & Shapiro, 1979), and that distress calls play an important role in keeping the brood intact (Lorenz, 1935). The present research extends our earlier work in several important ways.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 54%

The response of young peking duklings to sibling distress calls

Gaioni

Applebaum

Goldsmith

1983

Developmental Psychobiology

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Peking ducklings were tested at 1-2 or 7-8 days of age for their tendency to inhibit their own distress calling in response to the distress calls of siblings. At both ages the ducklings displayed a significant inhibitory response to the sibling calls, although the response of the older birds was greater. When the younger ducklings were subsequently tested with a variety of acoustic stimuli that were similar to the conspecific calls, however, they showed the same degree of response specificity displayed by older ducklings in previous research: in both cases the ducklings more strongly inhibited their vocalizing in response to the sibling calls than to most of these other stimuli. Finally, it was demonstrated that this differential responsiveness to sibling calls was not due merely to differences in pretest exposure to the sibling calls vs these other stimuli. This sensitivity of 1-2-day-old ducklings to sibling distress calls is of interest because (1) this age period is of great importance for the formation of social attachments, including sibling bonds, (2) distress calls are known to play an important role in maintaining family cohesion, and (3) it stands in contrast to the common view that young precocial birds do not respond to sibling distress calls.

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“…Furthermore, ducklings will learn an operant response to gain access to either a sibling or an imprinting stimulus (Bateson & Reese, 1969;Gaioni, Hoffman, DePaulo, & Stratton, 1978;Peterson, 1960), and in both cases the pattern of responding is quite similar, with responses occurring in bursts, rather than at a steady rate (Gaioni et al, 1978;Hoffman & Kozma, 1967). Thus, while much more needs to be known about sibling imprinting, an important process which has received little investigation (Shapiro, 1980;Storey & Shapiro, 1979), there is presently no evidence to support the contention that our results can be explained in terms of differences between filial and sibling imprinting. This, in turn, raises a final and related issue.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distress calling induced by reductions in group size in ducklings reared with conspecifics or imprinting stimuli

Gaioni

Ross

1982

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Peking ducklings were reared for 1-2weeks with either 9 or 12 companions, which were either conspecifics or imprinting stimuli (blocks of foam rubber). They were then tested for their tendency to distress call as the number of companions was reduced systematically. Consistent with prior research, ducklings reared with conspecifics modulated their distress calling as a function of both the number of companions with which they were reared and the number of companions with which they were tested. In contrast, ducklings reared with moving imprinting stimuli gave few if any distress calls, regardless of the number of stimuli with which they were reared or tested, as long as at least one imprinting stimulus was present. The difference in responding did not reflect just a lack of attachment to the imprinting stimuli, since when all stimuli were removed these ducklings gave as many distress calls as the ducklings that had all their conspecifics removed. Finally, ducklings reared with stationary imprinting stimuli displayed an erratic pattern of distress calling when the number of test stimuli was manipulated. These latter ducklings appeared to be less strongly imprinted than the ducklings reared with either conspecifics or moving imprinting stimuli. Implications for understanding duckling perception of brood size and the nature of sibling vs. filial imprinting are examined. Lorenz's (1935) pioneering work on the development of social attachments in young birds (imprinting) marked the beginning of an extensive research effort that continues to the present time. This research has focused largely on filial and sexual imprinting, that is, the processes by which a young bird learns the features of its mother and the species with which it will subsequently mate, respectively (

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Development of preferences in white peking ducklings for stimuli in the natural post-hatch environment

Cited by 17 publications

References 9 publications

Training ducklings in broods interferes with maternal imprinting

Training ducklings in broods interferes with maternal imprinting

The response of young peking duklings to sibling distress calls

Distress calling induced by reductions in group size in ducklings reared with conspecifics or imprinting stimuli

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