Animal studies Flashcards
Investigated imprinting: Goslings.
Describe method Lorenz experiment (1952).
Method: Lorenz divided a group of goose eggs into two groups:
One group was left with their natural mother.
The other group was placed in an incubator.
Lorenz made sure that when the eggs in the incubator hatched, he was the first moving object the goslings saw. After this, he marked the two groups and returned them to their natural mother.
what were the results from the Lorenz experiment ?
Results: The geese that had hatched in the incubator continued to follow him, while those who had hatched naturally continued to followed their mother.
what did Lorenz find ?
Findings - Lorenz concluded that goslings are programmed to imprint onto the first moving object they see, highlighting the rapid formation of attachment in animals.
These bonds were irreversible and permanent (gosling would always be imprinted onto humans). Later found out that those that imprinted on humans would attempt to mate with humans as adult brids (sexual imprinting).
Investigated whether food or comfort was more important in forming a bon
Describe Harlow aim (1958).
To test learning theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys given a wire surrogate mother producing milk with those given a soft towelling mother producing no milk.
describe Harlow’s method
2 types of surrogate mother were constructed – a harsh ‘wire mother’ and a soft ‘towelling mother’. 16 baby monkeys were used, with 4 in each of the conditions;
1. A cage containing a wire mother producing milk and a towelling mother producing no milk.
2. A cage containing a wire mother producing no milk and a towelling mother producing milk.
3. A cage containing a wire mother producing milk
4. A cage containing a towelling mother producing milk.
The amount of time spent with each mother, as well as feeding time, was recorded.
The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress.
A larger cage was also used to test the monkeys’ level of exploration.
Describe Harlow’s findings?
Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice of surrogate mothers, regardless of whether she produced milk; they even stretched across to the wire mother to feed while still clinging to the towelling mother.
Monkeys with only a wire mother had diarrhoea – a sign of stress
Frightened monkeys clung to the cloth mother, where she was available In the larger cage, monkeys explored more when a towelling mother was present
critical period
A strength of Lorenz
influential developmental psychology
For example,the fact that imprinting is seen to be irreversible (as suggested in Lorenz’s study) suggests that attachment formation is under biological control and that attachment formation happens within a specific time frame.
This is a strength because lead developmental psychologists (such as Bowlby) able to develop well recognised theories of attachment suggesting the attachment formation takes place during a critical period and is a biological process. Such theories have been highly influential in the way child care is administered today.
human vs geese x generalised
A limitation of Lorenz
extrapolation
Lorenz conducted his study on imprinting on animals the greylag geese rather than humans.
Humans and animals (in this case, greylag geese) are physiological different.The way a human infant develops an attachment with their primary caregiver could be very different to the way a greylag geese forms an attachment with their primary caregiver, therefore the findingscannot be generalised.
what is extrapolation?
the action of estimating or concluding something by assuming that existing trends will continue or a current method will remain applicable.
what did Harlow also show relating to MD?
Harlow also followed up on the monkeys who had been deprived of a real mother to see if maternal deprivation had a permanent affect. Found that those reared by a wire mother were the most dysfunctional, but those reared by the clothed mother did not develop normal social behaviour, they were more aggressive and less sociable. When they became mothers, they neglected, attacked and killed their young.
Investigated whether food or comfort was more important in forming a bon
Describe Harlow aim (1958).
To test learning theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys given a wire surrogate mother producing milk with those given a soft towelling mother producing no milk.
what did harlow conclude?
Rhesus monkeys have an innate, unlearned need for comfort, suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security more than food.
Contact comfort is associated with lower levels of stress and a willingness to explore, indicating emotional security.
child development
what does harlow’s research support?
importance of bonding between mother/main carer and baby
The monkeys who were not shown affection or could not cuddle with the cloth mother had trouble gaining weight thus leading researchers to believe that affection has a large impact on a child’s development
X EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS
A weakness of animal studies
extrapolation
P- results may not apply to humans.
E-Some psychologists argue that it is unlikely that observations of goslings following a researcher, or rhesus monkeys clinging to cloth-covered wire models, reflect the emotional connections and interactions that characterise human attachments
L-Therefore we may be unable to extrapolate the findings from animals to humans which limit the application of such findings.
