Animal Studies Flashcards
What did Lorenz aim to do?
Aimed to study imprinting which was when an animal was seen to follow its parent
What was Lorenz’s procedure?
Classic experiment in which he divided a clutch of goose eggs into two. Half were hatched with the mother goose in the natural environment and the other half hatched in an incubator and Lorenz was the first moving object they saw
What did Lorenz find?
The incubator group followed Lorenz as if he was their mother and the control group continued to follow the mother, when the groups were fixed together the experimental group continued to follow Lorenz
What did Lorenz conclude?
There was a critical period in which imprinting could occur. If imprinting did not occur during that time than goslings did not attach themselves to a mother figure
What are 3 evaluation points of Lorenz’s research?
What did Harlow aim to do?
Discover whether rhesus monkeys attach for food or comfort
What was Harlow’s procedure?
16 monkeys were seperated from their mothers at birth and then they were placed in a cage where they were provided with 2 surrogate mothers, a soft cloth one and a wire one with a feeding bottle
What did Harlow find?
Monkeys preferred the soft cloth mother suggesting that a need for contact comfort is a more powerful contributed to attachment than feeding or the reduction of hunger
What did Harlow conclude?
Monkeys do not attach for food. Maternal deprivation was a permanent effect and both groups were more aggressive and less sociable. They were also unskilled at mating. Harlow concluded that there was a critical period to form an attachment within around 90 days
What are 3 evaluation points of Harlow’s research?
- Practical value (helped social workers understand risk factor of neglect)
- Humans more complex than animals
- Ehtical issues
