uration. Bowlby described four stages of attachment, three of which occur in infancy and have been documented. Children apparently go through each stage in the same sequence although not at the same ages. Stage one is undiscri8minationg social responsiveness, in which infants orient to salient features of the environment, including human faces and voices, gain and maintain contact with humans, and use special signaling behaviors. They do not, however, show consistent preference for one or a few individuals. Stage tow is discriminating social responsiveness, in which infants respond differently to familiar figures compared to relative strangers. Transition to this stage requires development of perceptual and learning abilities. Stage three is active initiative in seeking proximity and contact with the attachment figure. Locomotion and control of body movement facilitate this stage. Because transitions between stages are both gradual and uneven, infants attachment behaviors at any particular time may include behaviors characteristic of an earlier and of a still developing stage. They are also, of course, influenced by the specific situation.Experiment: Imprinting and critical periodLorenz published a paper in 1937 describing the following response As part of his study, Lorenz made certain that he was the first moving object that some new born goslings saw. From that time on, the ducklings followed “mama” Lorenz everywhere he went, even swimming. It seemed to Lorenz that the first object to move past these ducklings was “stamped into” the animals brains as the object to be followed. Lorenz called this stamping, imprinting. He also observed that imprinting could occur only during a critical periods lasting from hatching until about 2 days later. The most effective imprinting occurred approximately 14 hours after hatching. If the chicks were more than 2 days old when they saw their first moving objec...
