Imprinting on the Adolescent Mind
The act of imprinting simply describes the emotional and irreversible connection a young child has with another individual. When a child is first born they typically imprint on the first person they have that true first emotional connection with, this person for an infant is typically their mother. The best way to describe this connection is how ducklings imprint on their mothers after they hatch. Once a duckling hatches from its egg, it typically imprints on the mother duck since it is the first thing it sees. As shown in the picture below, the ducklings will then form a single file line and follow their mother around because they rely on her for protection and warmth. This is the same connection infants make with their mothers after birth. They search for protection in their mothers from the moment they are born because they need that sense of comfort and familiarity.
When my baby cousin Leah was first born she was inseparable from my aunt. A vivid memory I have of this is one day when I was at my aunt’s house babysitting my two little cousins and my aunt quickly stepped out to take a work call. She was holding my cousin and put her in my arms, but from the moment she put her down she was crying hysterically. The crying continued until my aunt came back in the room and picked her back up. My cousin found comfort and felt safe knowing her mother was in the room, so she did not feel fully settled until my aunt was in the room and in her sight. She would often get upset at family events when family members wanted to hold her because she didn’t know that these people were her family, all she knew was they were not her mother.
Work Cited:
Dolasia, M. (2014, May 15). “imprinting” causes baby ducklings to believe that a man is their mother. DOGOnews. https://www.dogonews.com/2014/5/15/imprinting-causes-baby-ducklings-to-believe-that-a-man- is-their-mother