3. ATTACHMENT (Animal studies of attachment) Flashcards
Why are animal studies used in psychology?
Animal studies are used due to ethical or practical reasons, as animals breed faster and researchers can study attachment across multiple generations.
What is imprinting in attachment studies?
Imprinting is an innate readiness to form a strong bond with the mother during a specific time after birth or hatching, typically within the first few hours. If it doesn’t happen, it likely won’t occur.
What is meant by contact comfort?
Contact comfort refers to the infant’s need for physical closeness and touching, which is considered the foundation of attachment.
What was the aim of Lorenz’s 1935 study?
Lorenz aimed to investigate whether imprinting is innate and biologically programmed in animals.
What was the method used in Lorenz’s imprinting study?
Lorenz divided a clutch of goose eggs into two groups: one hatched with their mother, and the other in an incubator with Lorenz present. The goslings’ attachment behaviour was observed.
What were the findings of Lorenz’s 1935 imprinting study?
The goslings imprinted on the first moving object they saw (either Lorenz or the goose). Imprinting occurred within 12-17 hours after hatching, and the attachment was not related to feeding.
What conclusion did Lorenz draw from his study?
Lorenz concluded that imprinting is a critical period behavior that occurs within a specific time frame and does not depend on feeding.
What was the aim of Harlow’s 1958 study?
: Harlow aimed to investigate the importance of contact comfort in the development of attachment behaviours.
What was the method used in Harlow’s contact comfort study?
Baby rhesus monkeys were placed in cages with two surrogate mothers: one wire mother providing milk and one cloth mother providing no milk. The monkeys’ behaviours were observed.
What were the findings of Harlow’s contact comfort study?
Monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother, even if she provided no milk. The monkeys only went to the wire mother when hungry and then returned to the cloth mother afterward.
What conclusion did Harlow draw from his study?
Harlow concluded that attachment is formed due to contact comfort, not just feeding, and that the cloth mother served as a “safe base” for the monkeys.
What were the long-term effects on the monkeys in Harlow’s study?
The monkeys became socially abnormal, aggressive, and struggled with mating behaviour, even if they had contact comfort, showing the permanent effects of maternal deprivation.
What ethical concerns arise from Harlow and Lorenz’s studies?
Both studies caused harm to the animals, with Harlow’s monkeys experiencing permanent damage and Lorenz’s geese missing out on natural maternal learning, raising concerns over animal welfare.
How has Harlow’s research been applied in real life?
Harlow’s research has helped social workers understand the long-term risks of infant neglect, leading to better interventions for neglected children.
Why is it difficult to generalize the findings of Harlow and Lorenz’s studies to humans?
The studies used animals, and their behaviours may not reflect human attachment processes due to differences in intelligence and communication between species.
