Animal Studies

Question 1

Lorenz (1935) - Imprinting

Answer 1

• Lorenz split up a large clutch of goose eggs into 2 batches; one hatched naturally, one in an incubator with Lorenz making sure he was the first moving object the goslings encountered.
• Lorenz marked the 2 groups of goslings and put them al into an upturned box to see who they would follow once the box was removed

Question 2

Lorenz’s Findings

Answer 2

• When released from the box, the goslings followed the same entities again. These bonds proved irreversible.
• Lorenz noted imprinting only occurred in a brief set time between 4 and 25 hours after hatching (critical period)
• Found goslings that imprinted on humans tried to make with humans as an adult

Question 3

Lorenz Evaluation

Answer 3

+ Useful for investigating animals

• But less applicable to humans due to emotions etc… (Extrapolation issues)

+ The fact that imprinting is irreversible suggests it’s under biological control

• However research suggests otherwise. Guiton found chickens that imprinted on yellow rubber gloves tried to mate with gloves at first but later learned to mate with chickens, which suggests Lorenz overstated the imprinting effects
• Ethical issues due to long lasting, irreversible effects it had on the goslings

Question 4

Harlow (1959) - Comfort in monkeys

Answer 4

• 2 types of surrogate mothers; harsh ‘wire’ and a soft ‘towelling’ mother. 16 rhesus monkeys used with 4 monkeys in 4 different conditions
• The 4 conditions were; wire mother with milk and a towelling mother with no milk, WM with no milk and TM with milk, WM with milk, TM with milk
• Amount of time spent with each mother and which mother they fed off was recorded
• Monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress
• Larger cage used to test monkeys degree of exploration

Question 5

Harlow’s Findings

Answer 5

• Monkeys preferred contact with TM when given a choice regardless of whether they produced milk or not. They even snatched across WM to feed while clinging to TM
• Monkeys with only a WM had diarrhoea (sign of stress)
• When frightened, monkeys clung to TM when available
• In large cage, monkeys with TM explored more and visited their surrogate mothers more
• Found monkeys in study had problems as adults;ts like aggression, poor parenting, social dysfunction etc which suggests the consequences of maternal deprivat

Question 6

Harlow Evaluation

Answer 6

+ Important implication for understanding of attachment e.g. comfort is more important than food and the consequences of not forming an attachment increases usefulness of study

+ Led to practical implications e.g. how animals are reared in captivity and how humans are raised (preventing abuse of children)

• Unethically justifiable, due to suffering of monkeys and long term damage. Harlows findings might justify this however
• Extrapolation issues

Question 7

Harlow and Suomi (1972)

Answer 7

• Harlow and Suomi raise d 4 newborn male monkeys in total isolation for 6 months and then placed each one with a normally raised 3 month old female ‘therapist’ monkey for 2 hours, 3 times a week
• After 12 months, behaviour almost normal and by 3 years old they had totally recovered and were able to live normal lives
• Suggests effects of total isolation is not irreversible