The Creation of Memory and the Imprint Process

The father of "Imprinting" is (Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989) who pioneered the study of imprinting methods and
mechanisms in animals. His most famous research was conducted with goslings where he imprinted himself as
their mother. Lorenz discovered that the first experience of animals created imprinted behavior patterns that lasted
for life. He proved that these imprints even defied biology as he became the pied piper to many families of ducks,
birds, and dogs over his lifetime of research. Dr. Lorenz was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1973.
Recent research conducted with humans has led to similar conclusions. We never get a second chance to have a
first experience and our first experiences at an early age imprints the patterns that defines much of our behavior as
adults.
The brain uses thoughts to store experience. Thoughts combine to create memories and imprints. These thought
structures are comprised of two components, a rational (declarative) and an emotional component. The stronger the
emotional component, the more powerful the encoding. An example of a familiar encoding pattern is a "phobia"
which is simply a one trial learning experience charged with emotion. Most people cannot remember the initial
details surrounding the original phobic event, they are just left with an intense automatic reaction to the trigger of
the phobia (snakes, bugs, heights, etc.). By the way, principles of Neuro-Linguistic Programming can be used to
undo a phobic imprint by manipulating the submodalities of the experience.... but that's another topic.
Every experience (phobic down to the most mundane) consists of this declarative and emotional component. The
imprint syntax is: experience creates thoughts, thoughts create memories, memories combine into imprints.
Imprints are charged with varying levels of emotion. These imprints become the filters we use to perceive reality.
The bottom line is, if you want to understand a person's reality, you've got to decode the imprint structure and the
emotion that is encoded and stored in their brain surrounding a specific personal reality.
Does this mean that we must decode every customer's brain to discover the structures, the emotions, and hence the
triggers that drives their buying behavior? In the ideal situation, yes. In the practical sense, certainly not.
Fortunately we can decode imprints springing from experiences we shared as children, having a common cultural
background, and thus extrapolate general behaviors to many consumers who share that common background.
Here's how the imprint decoding process works. Suppose Pepsi was interested in discovering the first imprint in
the American culture for soda pop. Most of us would never give this a second thought, but if you were Pepsi,
making billions of dollars each year selling soda pop, you'd probably want to know how soda pop was imprinted
the first time in our childhood brains. Remember, these first imprints create the filters that unconsciously drives
our behavior as adults.
So how do you find out? One way the Decoding.com methodology, is to get a group of adults in a room, let them
have fun, relax, draw, remember, talk to each other, sell soda pop to an alien, make choices about soda pop, and go
back to their childhood and remember in vivid detail the very first experience when they drank their first soda pop.
Where were they? Who were they with? What did it taste like? What do they remember touching. What were they
seeing? What were they hearing? What smells were associated with the experience? What emotions were present?
This information is incredibly "rich" in both content and structure. To a researcher trained in decoding this data, it
is a fascinating puzzle that can be solved piece by piece.
As all this data in analyzed using linguistic patterns and word filters, repeating structures begin to emerge defining
the first imprint in little American boys and girls surrounding soda pop. These repeating structures define in broad
terms, the imprint for a large group of people, namely the American soda pop drinking public. Armed with this
information, Pepsi could now design great commercials and products that get in touch with deep seated memories
to give consumers the feeling, "Hey, I like it and I want it!"
Lorenz was right. Early imprints can make us do amazing things, and can keep us doing them long after we have
rationally figured things out. All our imprints are encoded and stored safely in the brain, driving behaviors,
creating perceptions, and making us believe we understand reality. Decoding these imprints and translating them
into marketing tools allows clients to give their customers what they really want. The great news is that consumers

love a correctly positioned product and are happy to reward us by taking it off the shelf and putting it in their
shopping basket.

Imprinting at Birth
The Thoroughbred of California, April, 1992
Some California farms are now practicing imprinting of foals at birth to acquaint them early with such things as
halters, clippers, and trailers.

by MICHAEL COMPTON
For years, some people have subscribed to the theory that racehorses respond to fear. But with imprint training,
which is now being practiced at a handful of farms in California, that philosophy is changing.
Through imprint training, a young, impressionable foal is very early taught the lessons it will needs to know
throughout its life. The foal learns to trust and respect people, and that does much to eliminate the fear element.
Jack Liebau and Thomas R. Capehart's Valley Creek Farm in Valley Center, Calif., is managed by Leigh Ann
Howard and is among the farms in the state using imprint training with its foals.
"I first heard about imprinting three years ago," said Howard. "Young horses get hurt because they get scared and
run away. If they're not afraid, they are a lot less likely to get hurt. What we are trying to accomplish with
imprinting is to alleviate accidents and injuries."
Imprinting requires extensive handling of a foal at birth in order to accustom the newborn to human contact.
Immediately after a foal is born it is rubbed repeatedly by hand over its entire body, including the ears and feet
Fingers are inserted in all body openings. Electric clippers without blades are run over the Foal's body and legs to
acquaint the animal with the often-frightening buzzing sound of the tool. The foal is then toweled, brushed, and
walked through a trailer, as well as taught to lead on both sides.
Exposing a foal to these objects and practices within the first 45 minutes of its life demonstrates to the foal that
certain sights and sounds offer no danger. Thus, the young Thoroughbred will be better prepared to handle such
common occurrences as trimming, shoeing, and shipping later in life.
"It takes fear away from the foal," explained Howard. "They are still respectful, but not scared. Fear is the worst
thing for any animal. I think they learn all of their lessons better when they're not afraid."
Howard goes through each phase of imprinting with a foal for 20 days after-its birth, each time repeating the same
process. The imprinting team at Valley Creek consists of Agustin Ramirez and Jose Ramirez. Aguatin handles the
foal through the routine, and Jose performs the actual imprinting. This year's foal crop is the first at Valley Creek
to receive imprint training although Howard did some of the imprinting practices on about 60 head last year.
"The first five days we are very intensive," said Howard. "Then we slow down a bit. And at no point are we met
with resistance.
"When I started imprinting, I was worried about affecting the bonding period between the mare and the foal
because I've always believed that you should get what you need to get done and then get out of there and leave
them alone. But I have found you can do imprinting very quietly and calmly while the mare is licking her baby.
"It works great," Howard said. "I've never had any problems. As far I can tell there are no drawbacks to imprinting.
But it is labor-intensive. If I didn't do imprinting I could use less help."

One of the imprinting tools used at Valley Creole is a model trailer that is open at both ends and was built by ranch
foreman Jesus Gonzalez. Agustin walks the foal up a ramp into the trailer and back down the other side. Such early
introduction makes shipping easier because the foal will not be as intimidated when it comes time to leave the
farm.
"We walk the foals through the trailer the same day they're born." said Howard. "Horses are usually so scared of
trailers and thats where most of them get hurt. So we expose them to it early. And we always do it with the mare
off to the side so she can see that everything is fine.
"1 think the trailer is a real important phase of imprinting," Howard added, "because our horses do a lot of hauling.
The most obvious thing you can see in our horses compared to horses that were shipped here from other farms is
the way they handle the trailer. When you see the horses that are here every day, you know that imprinting works."
According to retired veterinarian Dr. Robert Miller, who has studied the effects of imprinting for 25 years, a foal
learns more in the first 45 minutes of its life than at any other time. But Dr. Miller warned that if imprint training is
done incorrectly, a negative response is recorded in the foal's mind making the training process that much more
difficult
"If you teach the foal wrong things, those responses are also recorded in the foal's mind." explained Dr. Miller. "If
you stop the imprint training while they arc still struggling you fix an improper behavior.
Dr. Miller stresses that each stimulus, such as a rub or a stroke, needs to be done about 30 times in the same area in
order to "desensitize" the foal. When a foal reaches the point of acceptance, it will cease trying to flee and become
relaxed; ignoring it's natural instinct.
"A horse's natural instinct is to run from danger." Dr. Miller said. "We teach them submissive behavior. That's why
it's so important to desensitize the foal beyond the point of habituation. If you stop before the foal has relaxed,
you've programmed a negative reaction."
The vet also pointed out that the entire imprinting process takes place during the first hour of a foal's life. That is
when the foal bonds with its dam and any other person or object it comes in contact with. Any subsequent training
that follows in the days after the foal is born takes place during what Dr. Miller terms "the critical learning period,"
a stage of life when a foal easily and quickly absorbs teaching.
"I break my program up into three sessions, with each one lasting about an hour," said Dr. Miller. "The first
session is at birth: the second is held the day after, unless I have a weak-legged foal; and the third is the day after
the second session. In that time you can teach a horse everything it needs to know.
"By hammering your hand on the bottoms of their feet, you can prevent problems with shoeing later on. And by
the lime you finish the imprinting process, you will be able to handle that foal for life. You can perform a rectal
palpation or put a tube in its nose or throat without any problems."
While a foal's mind is receptive to imprinting at birth, the imprinting period varies among animal species. With
predatory animals, such as dogs and cats, the imprinting period does not occur at birth because they are virtually
helpless, and the same is true for human beings. But in prey species, such as the horse and deer, imprinting occurs
much earlier.
"A horse s mind is receptive to learning at birth for survival." Dr. Miller said. "In the wild, a horse needs to run
shortly after birth in order to flee danger, and it attaches itself to what it sees right after birth. At that point it learns
everything it needs to know to get through life."
Dr. Miller has brought imprint training to the forefront of the horse world, but Konrad Lorenz is considered the
pioneer of modern ethology (the scientific study of behavior patterns in animals). The Austrian scientist devoted

much of his life to better understanding the various species in the animal kingdom and is best known for his work
with goslings.
In 1935, Lorenz reported that goslings undergo a rapid learning process (imprinting) early in life. He also
discovered in later research that goslings would go as far as accepting a person as a foster parent. If a gosling was
handled from birth and hand-reared, it would follow its foster parent anywhere, as if the person were its mother.
Lorenz also found that such behavior is not exclusive to goslings. Hand-reared hares, beavers, and even boars
proved unexpectedly intelligent and trusting of human contact.
Dr. Miller discovered the effects of imprinting on horses in much the same fashion.
"I've always been interested in animal behavior." he said, "and I was always told that you never mess with young
horses. You just leave them alone. But over the years I noticed that the foals I delivered that for some reason or
other needed handling were much easier to get along with down the road."
Six years ago, Dr. Miller put his 20 years of experience into an instructional video entitled Imprint Training the
Foal. In the video, he walks through the steps of imprinting and carefully demonstrates each technique.
'Since the video came out, there has been an explosive reaction all over the horse world." he said. "But the
Thoroughbred world was slow to accept it. Most people that have Thoroughbreds want their animal a little flighty.
They think it makes it more competitive. But I've found that a horse will run at Lop speed without being flighty
and ill mannered.
"If a racehorse is flighty, it often gets worked up before it gets to the starting gate and its adrenaline rush is gone
before the race starts. Adrenaline only lasts so long, and I'd rather my horse have that rush during the race.
"Excitement in the horse is really fear, and a scared horse will run in mid-pack for security. A calm, well-mannered
horse has no problems running off by itself."
One of the first farms in California to utilize imprint training was Brian Boudreau's Malibu Valley Farms, managed
by Mark Cardiel. Cardiel has been doing imprint training at Malibu Valley since Dr. Miller introduced him to it in
1983.
"1 was skeptical at first," said Cardiel. "1 didn't want to take away their spirit. I was always taught that you handle
horses when it comes time to break them. But I've seen so many horses and people get hurt doing things that way
that I tried imprinting on one horse-and I saw a big difference.
"I don't use all of Dr. Miller's methods, but I use most of them." Cardiel continued. "I have found that you don't
need to run the clippers over them that early. But if you handle them around the mouth, ears, and feet and teach
them to back up, they're more receptive to new things when they get older."
Cardiel not only raises Thoroughbreds at Malibu Valley, but Quarter Horses and show horses as well. Among the
Thoroughbreds that have graduated from Malibu Valley's imprinting program is California-bred stakes winner
Kansas City.
"It's going to take one really good horse that had imprint training as a foal to make people take notice," said
Cardiel. "Until that happens, spreading the word is going to be a very slow process."
Cark Quisenberry, the farm manager at John and Betty Mabee's Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona, Calif., also
practices a modification of Dr. Miller's methods.

"We've been doing imprinting for years," said Quisenberry. "We just didn't know what it was called. We've always
handled our foals early and brushed on them from the time they were born. But Dr. Miller has come along and
formalized the process. Her deserves a lot of credit. We are a lot more aggressive in our program now."
At Golden Eagle, foals are handled extensively at birth, brushed, and walked through a chute instead of a model
trailer such as used at Valley Creek. Golden Eagle is expected to have a foal crop of about 130 this year.
"If we can get 90 percent of our foals imprinted, I'll be happy," said Quisenberry. "With the large number of foals
that we deal with, it's hard. Some foals take more time than others, although eventually they submit."
While Quisenberry and Howard are convinced that imprinting works, most farms in the state that were contacted
continue to practice more traditional methods of training the young horse. Often, foals are not handled much for
about the first four months of their lives. Then, when they are weaned, they are exposed to objects such as trailers
and clippers. In some cases, foals are not halter broken until weaning time either.
But Quisenberry and Howard both feel that once more people are exposed to imprint training, it will catch on.
"There's no question everyone will be doing it," said Quisenberry. "It's a positive program. We were more involved
in last year's crop, and that proved to me that this works. Imprinting is a good tool."
Howard said that imprinting will help the backyard breeder as much as the commercial breeder.
"The guy that has his own mares, delivers his own foals, and does imprinting for the first couple of weeks can send
his foal to a commercial farm and when he gets that foal back, he's still going to be able to handle it."
If imprinting is done correctly, Dr. Miller believes that the end result is a well-mannered, smarter horse that is not
fearful of human contact.
"The biggest complaint I hear from horsemen is that imprinting is too time-consuming," Dr. Miller said. "And
that's ridiculous. Imprinting is a time-saver. It makes learning later on so much easier."
"When 1 first started talking about imprinting. I thought I would have accomplished something if I could get
Thoroughbred horsemen to accept it in my lifetime. Now with a prominent Thoroughbred farm like Golden Eagle
using these methods, I think imprinting is on its way."

Imprinting
Among most memorable studies of ethologist Konrad Lorenz was one in 1937 in which he allowed newly hatched
goslings to imprint on him instead of the mother goose--and they followed him around wherever he went. Lorenz
argued that imprinting is different from associative learning. He first called the phenomenon prgung, which
means "stamping in" in German and has been translated as "imprinting".
Lorenz (1935) proposed imprinting differed from true associative learning in several important ways. First,
susceptibility to imprinting is confined to very limited period in bird's life, the critical period. Second, Lorenz
argued that once developed, imprinting is irreversible. For instance, if a bird was imprinted to a bird of another
species, later contact with its own species would not eliminate effects of early experience. Third, Lorenz viewed
imprinting as a form of superindividual conditioning, in which behaviors are directed not only to the specific
animal to which a young bird is exposed to but also to the entire class of organisms of which the imprinting object
is a member. Imprinting is highly adaptive for the species. The babies need to stay close to the mother for
protection, and to learn species identification.
It is well known that under certain conditions, newly hatched goslings and ducklings will follow and become
socially bonded to the first moving object they encounter. Konrad Lorenz, in his classic studies of this
phenomenon, noted that the bond seemed to be formed immediately, that it seemed to be irreversible and that it
seemed to only develop during a brief "critical period" in the first day or so after hatching. Lorenz employed the
term "Imprinting" to describe the process by which the social bond was formed. In doing so he implied that during
a gosling or duckling's first encounter with a moving object the image of the object is somehow stamped
irreversibly on the nervous system and for many years this was the accepted conception of the process.
In the course of more recent research (in my own as well as in other laboratories) it has come to be realized that the
traditional view of imprinting is incorrect. The newer research makes it clear that imprinting is neither rapid nor
irreversible; as was claimed by Lorenz and his followers. Nor for that matter is imprinting a specialized
phenomenon limited to a brief critical period early in a young bird's life, as was also claimed by the early
investigators. Instead the latest findings lead to the unexpected conclusion that imprinting occurs in many species
including man and that it entails much more plastic and forgiving mechanisms than were claimed by Lorenz.
Perhaps more importantly, that work also provides compelling evidence that the social bond that develops through
imprinting entails an addictive process that is mediated by the release of endorphins (the brain's own opiates). This
surprising insight helps us to better understand a number of otherwise puzzling issues with respect to how we deal
with each other and with our children.
We now understand that imprinting works as follows: To be an appropriate target for social bonding an object (it
could, of course, be a person or an animal) has to provide stimulation that is pleasurable and in this sense,
comforting. This will happen when some aspect of the object (for example, its shape or its texture or its motion)
has the capacity to innately stimulate the production of endorphins (the brain's own form of morphine).
When a young duckling or gosling or human baby is exposed to such an object it is immediately comforted and if
the exposure is extensive, the initially neutral features of the object gradually acquire the capacity to themselves
stimulate the production of endorphins. This happens through an as yet to be thoroughly understood learning
process.
Once this learning has occurred, the object will have been rendered familiar. As a result it will continue to be
comforting when development has proceeded to the point when any unfamiliar, but otherwise appropriate, object
will elicit a competing fear reaction.
When viewed in this fashion it becomes clear that the so called critical period is merely the period in development
prior to the onset of fear of novelty (at about day three) in ducklings and goslings, and fear of strangers (at about 8
months) in our own babies. It is also clear that for subjects that are beyond the critical period, an appropriate but
unfamiliar object must eventually become familiar provided that the subject has sufficient exposure to it. Once this
happens the object will no longer elicit a competing fear response and since the object already has the capacity to
stimulate the production of endorphins it will now serve as a potential target for social bonding.