Effects of social experience on the following response in chicks.

Abstract

Following behavior of 16-, 24-, 36-, and 48-hr.-old chicks which had been maintained in isolation from the time of hatching to the time of imprinting was compared with that of corresponding groups which had been given 2 hr. of social experience with chicks of the same age before imprinting. Animals having had the social experience followed more at all ages than the naive controls, although this difference in behavior is not related to the experience of being in the light, but is a direct effect of having the experience with siblings.