Anchoring

Biological Parallel

Imprinting in birds demonstrates biological anchoring—goslings follow the first moving object they see and cannot revise this template. Konrad Lorenz's geese followed him for life because the initial anchor (first thing seen upon hatching) permanently shaped behavior. Phenotypic plasticity shows the same pattern: plant roots grow toward initial nutrient signals even when better sources appear later, because the developmental anchor is set. Early information disproportionately weights decisions because changing course after commitment is metabolically expensive.