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Ethological Theory * stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology and is tied of evolution * characterized by critical or sensitive periods. * these are specific time frames during which, according to ethologists, the presence or absence of certain experiences has a long-lasting influence on individuals.
Konrad Lorenz
(1903-1989)
* European zoologist * helped bring ethology to prominence what is ethology? * 1. study of the behaviour of animals in their normal environment (Collins Dictionary, 2010) noun * 2. study of animal behavioral patterns: the study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitat, usually proposing evolutionary explanations (Encarta Dictionaries, 2009)
Lorenz’s experiment 1. studied the behavior of greylag geese, which will follow their mothers as soon as they hatch. 2. He separated the eggs laid by one goose into two groups. > one group he returned to the goose to be hatched by her. > the other group was hatched in an incubator
3. He marked the goslings and then placed both groups under a box. Mother goose and "mother" lorenz stood aside as the box lifted.
Each group of goslings went directly to its "mother." lorenz called this process imprinting.
Imprinting….
* It is the rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the first moving objects seen.
Contributions of ethological theory
1. focus on the biological and evolutionary basis of development
2. the use of careful observations in naturalistic settings
Criticisms
1. too much emphasis on biological foundations 2. a belief that the critical and sensitive period concepts might be too rigid.
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky is perhaps the best known and the most influential linguist of the second half of the Twentieth Century. He has made a number of strong claims about language : in

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