Filial imprinting and associative learning

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Evidence is reviewed that is relevant to an interpretation of filial imprinting as a form of classical or Pavlovian conditioning. For such an interpretation it has to be assumed that the imprinting object provides both the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the conditioned stimulus (CS). The difficulty for an experimental approach is that CS and UCS are always presented simultaneously and cannot be manipulated independently, making it virtually impossible to test phenomena such as latent inhibition and extinction. Existing evidence is consistent with a conditioning theory of imprinting, for instance with regard to the reversibility of filial preferences. Some hitherto unexplained findings can be accounted for in terms of overshadowing and blocking. Results of an experiment are discussed in which the occurrence of blocking was explicitly tested. The findings support an associative learning interpretation of imprinting, but further experiments are needed to be able to rule cut alternative explanations.