imprinting

[ im-prin-ting ]

noun

, Animal Behavior, Psychology.

1. rapid learning that occurs during a brief receptive period, typically soon after birth or hatching, and establishes a long-lasting behavioral response to a specific individual or object, as attachment to parent, offspring, or site.

imprinting

/ ɪmˈprɪntɪŋ /

noun

1. the development through exceptionally fast learning in young animals of recognition of and attraction to members of their own species or to surrogates

imprinting

/ ĭm′prĭn′tĭng /

1. A rapid learning process by which a newborn or very young animal establishes a behavior pattern of recognition and attraction towards other animals of its own kind, as well as to specific individuals of its species, such as its parents, or to a substitute for these. Ducklings, for example, will imprint upon and follow the first large moving object they observe. In nature, this is usually their mother, but they can be made to imprint upon other moving objects, such as a soccer ball.

Word History and Origins

Origin of imprinting¹

1937; imprint + -ing ¹, translation of German Prägung, K. Lorenz's term

Example Sentences

Thus, fathers have an important, albeit indirect, influence on the genetic imprinting of mitochondria and thereby on the energy metabolism of their children.

From Science Daily

By studying mice with heart failure, the researchers found evidence of stress imprinting on the epigenome, that is, chemical changes occurred to the mice's DNA.

From Science Daily

"In principle, imprinting can be positive, negative or neutral. In this case, we see strong imprinting that is positive, because it's coupled to the development of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies with remarkable breadth of activity."

From Science Daily

Photolithography, a process employed in crafting metalenses by imprinting patterns on silicon wafers using light, stands as a step in their fabrication.

From Science Daily

The phenomenon in which an initial antibody response to a virus dominates and delimits the response to later strains of the same virus is called "immunological imprinting," or "original antigenic sin."

From Science Daily