ABSTRACT
Early investigators, influenced by Lorenz, believed that the first filial responses to any figure led rapidly to the formation of a strong attachment to that figure. How quickly could such an attachment be formed ? Some investigations were particularly concerned with this problem. It soon became clear that the speed with which attachments built up might depend on a variety of factors, e.g. the type of releasing stimulation, the subject’s age at initial exposure to it, the activity of the subject at the time of training, and so on. In connection with the early studies an important issue arose, viz., how to judge that an attachment to a figure had actually developed ; for the estimation of the speed of formation and strength of attachments could clearly depend on the criteria used for determining their existence.
