Imprinting
Imprinting explained in an easy to understand way:
Imagine you're at a massive outdoor concert, trying to find your friends among a sea of people. Just as you rely on that specific shirt your friend was wearing to identify them in the crowd, animals use imprinting to recognize their mother immediately after birth. Both situations involve a critical window of time where you must focus on a distinct feature to successfully make a connection — your friend's shirt for you, and a mother's characteristics for the animal. In both cases, this initial recognition becomes ingrained and hard to change, ensuring that you aren't lost in the music or, for the animal, separated from the mother.
Practice Version
Imprinting: Irreversible learning that happens at a specific time of an animals life, like identifying their mother at birth. Imprinting. Imprinting is a process where young animals form attachments and recognize certain individuals or things as a parent right after birth.