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Imprinting, Psychological MeSH Descriptor Data 2026
A particular kind of learning characterized by occurrence in very early life, rapidity of acquisition, and relative insusceptibility to forgetting or extinction. Imprinted behavior includes most (or all) behavior commonly called instinctive, but imprinting is used purely descriptively.
Entry Term(s)
Imprinting (Psychology)
Imprinting, Psychology
Public MeSH Note
2020; was IMPRINTING (PSYCHOLOGY) 1964-2019
History Note
2020 (1965); was IMPRINTING (PSYCHOLOGY) 1964-2019
A particular kind of learning characterized by occurrence in very early life, rapidity of acquisition, and relative insusceptibility to forgetting or extinction. Imprinted behavior includes most (or all) behavior commonly called instinctive, but imprinting is used purely descriptively.