1.3 - Attachment (set B Animial Attachment And learning Theory) Flashcards
Explain who Konrad Lorenz is, what was his theory?
Was a prominent and influential ethnologist - first observed instinctive animal behaviour, specifically imprinting when he was a child (after a neighbour gave him a newly hatched duckling which began to follow him around)
- produced imprinting theory and studied animal behaviour under relatively natural conditions
Explain the method used by Lorenz (1935) involving gosling eggs?
Lorenz took a clutch of gosling eggs and divided them into two groups (one group was left with their natural mother, while the other eggs were placed in a incubator) - when incubator eggs hatched the first (moving) thing they saw was Lorenz, and they soon started to follow him around
- Lorenz marked the two groups to distinguish them and placed them together, they had become imprinted on him (Lorenz and natural mother were present)
Explain the findings of Lorenz experiment involving gosling eggs?
- once the eggs hatched they proceeded to follow the first moving object they saw during the critical period (12-17 hours), process called imprinting (one group followed the mother, the other followed Lorenz) - suggests attachment is innate
Explain 4 key points of imprinting, based on the work from Lorenz ?
- has consequences for short term survival and future relationships
- sexual imprinting, later in life mates are chosen based upon the objects they imprinted on
- is irreversible
- if no attachment developed in 32 hours, unlikely any attachment will develop
Explain what sexual imprinting is?
the learning of a mate preference by direct observation of the phenotype of another member of the population
- Young animals observe from a very young age and learn the characteristics of a desirable mate
Explain an example of sexual imprinting taking place between different animials - involving the example of a peacock?
peacock that has been reared in the reptile house of the zoo, the first moving object that it saw after hatching was a giant tortoise - as an adult the peacock would only display courtship behaviour towards the tortoise
Explain the work of Guyton (1966) on sexual imprinting?
Found that chicks, exposed to yellow rubber gloves for feeding, during the first few weeks, became imprinted on the gloves - The chicks were then found to later try and mate with the gloves, supporting sexual imprinting
Explain what the work of guyton (1966) supports?
Shows support that animals are not born with predisposition to only imprint on specific objects but on any moving thing present in the critical period (eg a yellow rubber glove)
Explain 2 weakness of Guytons work on sexual imprinting?
- can we generalise animals to humans, are the studies on animals like birds applicable to humans (it might be that mammalian attachment is different to bird attachment)
- contradicts with other research, Lorenz concluded imprinting was irreversible, however guyton suggests that sexual imprinting in chickens could be reversed (back to normal sexual behaviours of the species)
Explain a strength of Guytons work on sexual imprinting?
- influential - his work enabled other psychologist (eg Bowlby) to further explore the critical period and take the area forward
Who was harry Harlow what did he study?
Influential American psychologist who is best known for his animal studies, looking into maternal deprivation, caregiving and dependency
- highly ethically controversial due to his experiments on monkeys
Explain Harlows method with monkeys which studied how attachment was not formed though the feeding bond but contact comfort?
He created two wire mothers/surrogates (one was wrapped in a soft cloth) eight rhesus monkeys were studied for 165 days, for 4 of the monkeys the milk bottle was on the cloth-covered mother and on the plain wire mother for the other 4 - during the time measurement were made of the amount of time each infant spent with the two different mothers
- observations were also made of the monkey infants responses when frightened by a mechanical teddy bear for example
Explain 2 findings of Harlows research, include which mothers they would spend more time with?
All eight monkeys sent most of their time with the cloth-covered mother (wether or not this was the mother with the milk bottle) those monkeys who were fed by the wire mother only spent a short time getting milk before returning to the cloth mother
When frightened all monkeys clung to the cloth covered monkey - and would keep one foot on the cloth mother when playing with new objects (likely for reassurance)
Explain the overall finding of Harlows research with monkeys?
Findings suggest infants do not develop an attachment to the person who feeds them but to the person offering contact comfort
Explain the long lasting effects on the monkey through the research conducted by Harlow?
developed abnormally, even the motherless monkeys that did have contact comfort - eg they would freeze of flee when approached by other monkeys) and they did not show normal mating behaviour and would neglect their offspring (eg not cradling their own babies)
Explain Harlows findings on the critical period?
If the motherless monkeys spent time with their monkey ‘peers’ they seemed to recover but only if this happened before they were 3 months old
- having more than 6 months with only a wire mother was not something they appeared to be able to recover from
Explain 3 weaknesses to Harlows research?
- same as animal studies, debatable over how generalisable to humans
- confounding variable with the different heads of the surrogate mothers (an extraneous variable which can affect the dependent variables
- faced severe criticism for the ethics of his research using animials - this study created long lasting emotional harm for the monkeys causing them to suffer greatly - Harlow was aware of these ethical issues
Explain in further depth how the difference in the heads of the monkeys may have affected the results?
The two heads were different, which acted as a confounding variable because it varied systematically with the independent variable (mother being clothed covered or not) it is possible the reason the infant monkeys preferred one mother to the other was because the cloth covered mother had a more attractive head
Briefly explain the learning theory of attachment?
Learning theory put forward by behaviourists who focus solely on behaviour - suggests that all behaviour, including attachment is learned through classical or operant conditioning
Explain Dollard and miller’s 4 key points of learning theory regarding attachment?
- attachment is a learned behaviour — acquired through both classical and operant conditioning
- attachment is learnt - not innate or biological
- focus on associations and rewards provided by caregivers
- we have to learn to attach - do so because of food
Explain how attachments can form through classical conditioning?
Food, eg milk (UCS) provides infant pleasure (UCR)
Mother (NS) feeds infant milk (UCS) which provides pleasure to the infant (UCR)
Infant now associates pleasure (CR) with mother (CS)
Explain Dollard and Milers explanation regarding attachment forming through operant conditioning - with reference to drive reduction theory?
When an animal is uncomfortable (eg hungry) they experience a drive to reduce the discomfort - when the infant is fed the drive is reduced, provides feeling of pleasure (negative reinforcement)
- child seeks person who supplies reward which is the primary reinforcer (food)
Explain how food can act as a reinforcer and form an attachment through conditioning?
Infant has drive to reduce discomfort (hunger) - drive is reduced and provides pleasure when the infant is fed
- food becomes primary reinforcer because it supplies the reward - reinforces the behaviour that avoided discomfort
