Imprinting of ducklings to a second stimulus when a previously imprinted stimulus is occasionally presented

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Newly hatched ducklings were imprinted to one stimulus and then given prolonged visual exposure to a second discriminable stimulus. Filial behavior toward the second stimulus developed more slowly when the original imprinting stimulus was occasionally presented during exposure to the second stimulus than when the original stimulus was withheld during such exposure. Results were interpreted in terms of a possible motivational aftereffect following presentations of the original imprinting stimulus.