n. a simple yet profound and highly effective learning process that occurs during a critical period in the life of some animals. It was first described in 1873 by British naturalist Douglas A. Spalding (1840–1877) when he observed that newly hatched chicks tended to follow the first moving object, human or animal, that caught their attention. The term itself was introduced by Konrad Lorenz in 1937. Some investigators believe that such processes are instinctual; others regard them as a form of preparedness.