Abandon the scenery

I'm pretty into scientific stuff, but you raise a question I'm not sure can be answered...I'll try anyway. I think that animals have the same hormones that we do, in fact we are of the animalia kingdom as humans. We become attached to loved ones same as they do, pheromones and scents bond us together as families. I think that animals do in fact share bonds with each other, the imprint as you said, and the bond they share with close ones is stronger than with those of the rest of their species. Look at a cow moose or elephant that protects their young after they die, they stand over them and mourn, just as we do. Same for the young when their parent dies. Not all animals experience it the same though, squirrels regularly kill and eat their young. But cat and dog pets mourn the loss of their owners. Interesting question, but I dont think it can be as black and white as the options you presented, "yes I am aware of the imprint" or "I just feel close to you". The animal kingdom is very diverse, many critters share different experiences.

Thank you, science side of Thparky, lol.

I mean, im already studying psychology, and Im not sure how to answer it. I like how you said that its probably not black and white, and probably a mix of both. I think you may have the correct answer there, and if not, your probably really close. Thanks.

Correction to my first line, I'm not sure the question can be answered so simplistically, I think it varies between species.

let me answer this in the best way I can:
Animals know other animals based on sent, Hormones, looks, and how they behave. a falcon knows that a hawk is not a falcon because of there body shape size Etc
A female animal obviously is different from a male. either in color how they are shaped and size. same with humans males have a p**is, square body structure facial hair and are usually taller, they release different chemicals. females have more rounded parts Breast a Va**na and longer hair, and would ya guess they release different chemicals. (the human thing is a bad example because of transgender stuff but you understand [hopefully] )
there are certain trait's that animals look for in a mate. with humans, men look for whatever their fetish is. in birds maybe the females look for the brightest color. and most animals don't care who they mate with. a type of flower takes advantage of this one of its petals looks like the back of a female be. so a male will come along and mate with the fake female.
but this is just with mates. (also I think I might have miss understood your question)
if you're talking about parents or siblings then tell me cause I don't wanna explain that if you don't wanna know.

Uwa...yeah I think you misunderstood. I get the point your trying to make though. The question is, 'Are baby animals aware the reason they want their parent because they've imprinted on them?Or are they just close to them and dont know why?' did that help?

yes umm...
most baby animals stick with there mother because they need protection, others stick with there mother because of food or they care for there mothers (yes humans aren't the only animal that care) also I learned in biology today that animals have Adaptions in personality and behavior. one of the Adaptions could be that they stay with there parents. and Thparky is right about the hormones thing. but I'm pretty sure that he's not right about the hormones with humans thing. yes humans do release hormones that baby can detect but over time we have come to not need those hormones so much that our brains ignore them at a certain time. we then use visualization to identify our parents or friends.
other than what Thparky said, that's all I know.

You think we don't need hormones at all or just for bonding? I can tell you most assuredly that we need hormones, just ask my wife how she feels if she forgets to take her thyroid replacement hormone on a given day!

For bonding...no maybe not as important as it used to be, but I will say that skin-to-skin bonding with babies is one of the best ways for them to get to know us. We adopted our daughter, so when she was born even without any knowledge of the outside world, she was used to her mother's heartbeat, her moods, her voice, her body. We did not share that bond, but through skin-to-skin bonding we were able to let her hear our heartbeats, our voices, and yes our smell (hormones/pheromones). I do think it's still a viable way that we communicate to each other without words or actions. Other forms of interaction are definitely more effective for us though.

I'm not saying that we don't need hormones at all but when we are an infant nowadays it becomes less important when he get to a certain age.