Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen
Lorenz and Tinbergen were ethologists, who along with Karl von
Frisch, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1973.
Lorenz's early interests lay in the use of behavior as an aid to
taxonomy. In particular, he was interested in the taxonomy of ducks
(Anatidae). In the 1930s he was able to demonstrate phylectic
behavioral differences between duck species. Mating behaviors and
displays were of particular use in this analysis. Lorenz's most
famous contribution is probably his description of imprinting, a
learning phenomenon seen a few species. Imprinting involves learning
that takes place during a critical period, a tiny window of time.
Imprinting can only take place within that critical period.
Imprinting, thus defined, is not seen in humans. Attachment, a
similar phenomenon, does occur in humans. Both Lorenz and Tinbergen
developed intimate relationships with the animals they studied, and
that contributed to their success.
Tinbergen's research style and personality complemented Lorenz's.
Where Lorenz was garrulous and expansive, Tinbergen was reserved and
thoughtful. Tinbergen's research skills lay in his ability to "ask
questions of nature." His four questions: immediate causation,
development, evolution, and function still form the basis for modern
ethological theorizing. His research with sticklebacks, herring
gulls, and digger wasps are classic examples of ethology.
Comments
Ethology incubated slowly in Europe in the minds of Lorenz,
Tinbergen, von Frisch and others. When ethological notions began to
percolate across the Atlantic, the effect was predicable. American
behavioral psychologists nearly universally rejected ethological
ideas and theory. In the ensuing decades, however, the
self-correction so often seen in science happened again. Today,
ethological notions, refined and revised, form part of any coherent
attempt to explain development.
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