Imprinting and habituation -Explain the impact of early life experiences on an animals behaviour (Grade C) -Explain the role of habituation in an animals learning process (Grade A) B3.2 lesson 3

Starter Shut your eyes and listen carefully to sounds outside the room. Are you normally aware of the ‘background’ noise?

Habituation Getting used to a stimulus which you avoid to begin with Habituation is a form of learning which enables animals not to waste time and energy responding to stimuli which might be alarming to begin with but are not harmful E.g. a bird might fly off when it first sees a scarecrow, however they soon learn its harmless and continue to feed

Why would a newly hatched duck follow a cat as though it is one of its parents? Young birds will often follow the first moving object they see after hatching We say that they imprint on the object

Imprinting Usually the first object a young animal sees is one of its parents Imprinting on the parent allows the young animal to follow its parents from an early age Parents mean food, protection from predators and shelter Imprinting therefore increases the chances of survival for the animal

Imprinting: the process where young animals bond with animals (including humans) who are not necessarily their parents. Young animals may also imprint on moving objects. Habituation: the process where an animal no longer reacts to a stimulus which caused a response to begin with, e.g. an alarm.

Practical Habituation in snails –Worksheet B3.2.3aWorksheet B3.2.3a –Practical –Extension: habituation in lambs (B3.2.3c)

APlace a snail on a horizontal Perspex sheet and, very gently, touch one of its tentacles with a glass rod. BNow repeat this, touching the tentacle eight times, and make notes on anything you notice. CTake a new, different snail. You will again need to touch its tentacle eight times, but in this case you will have to measure three things: i)How far the tentacle withdraws when you touch it (estimate the percentage to the nearest 10%). ii)The time it takes for the withdrawn tentacle to extend again. iii)The angle through which the snail changes direction of movement. You can estimate this or use a protractor for more accuracy.

Plenary Zoos often try to breed rare animals with the intention of reintroducing them into the wild. Why is it important to avoid situations where imprinting may occur on these animals? Use examples to help explain your answer.