Imprinting (psychology)

Kinds of learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage

In psychology and ethology, imprinting is a relatively rapid learning process that occurs during a particular developmental phase of life and leads to corresponding behavioural adaptations. The term originally was used to describe situations in which an animal internalises (learns) the characteristics of a perceived object, for example of a dangerous predator or a sweet fruit. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, provided the first scientific explanation of how imprinting really works, developing the thesis that our brain can store experiences in its neural network through "a permanent change after an event" – one of the main functions of the long-term memory, which he called superego.

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