ANIMAL STUDIES

Question 1

Name two researchers that investigated attachment / mother-infant relationships

Answer 1

lorenz, Harlow

Question 2

Lorenz: AIM

Answer 2

Investigated the effect of imprinting

Question 3

Lorenz: PROCEDURE

Answer 3

• Conducted an experiment in which goose eggs were randomly divided so that half of them hatched with the mother goose (in their natural environment) and half hatched in an incubator so the goslings first saw Lorenz when they hatched

Question 4

Lorenz: FINDINGS & CONCLUSION

Answer 4

The control group (that hatched with mother) followed mother everywhere whereas the experimental group (that hatched in incubator) followed Lorenz. This behaviour persisted even when they were mixed together. This is called imprinting- newly hatched chicks attach to the first moving object they see. Identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place (a few hours after birth). If imprinting does not occur within that time Lorenz found that chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure.

Question 5

What did Lorenz conclude about the critical period for attachment for geese?
What would the effects be if imprinting did not occur?

Answer 5

• Imprinting needs to take place a few hours after birth.
• If imprinting does not occur within that time Lorenz found that chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure

Question 6

Lorenz: EV: Generalisability to humans.

Answer 6

• Lorenz was interested in imprinting in birds. The human attachment system is quite different from that in birds.
• For example, human mothers show more emotional attachment to young than birds.
• This means that there is a problem in generalising Lorenz’s findings on birds to humans
• This is a disadvantage as even though the findings have had an influence on our understanding of human development, there is a vast difference between mammals and birds and therefore we are unable to apply the findings to humans.

Question 7

Lorenz: EV: Questionable reliability

Answer 7

• Guiton et al. found that chickens who had imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults (as Lorenz would have predicted), but that with experience they eventually learned to prefer to mate with other chickens.
• This suggests that the impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed.

Question 8

Who used monkeys to investigate attachment?

Answer 8

Harlow

Question 9

Who used goslings to investigate mother-infant attachment?

Answer 9

lorenz

Question 10

What idea did Harlow test?

Answer 10

The idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother

Question 11

Harlow: PROCEDURE

Answer 11

• Harlow reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’.
• In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother whereas in a second condition the mild was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother

Question 12

Harlow: FINDINGS

Answer 12

• Baby monkeys cuddled the soft object in preference to the wire one.
• Sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened regardless of which dispensed milk.

Question 13

Harlow: CONCLUSION

Answer 13

• ‘Contact comfort’ was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour

Question 14

Harlow followed the monkeys into adulthood for what reason?

Answer 14

To see if maternal deprivation had a permanent effect

Question 15

What did Harlow observe in the adulthood of monkeys who experienced maternal deprivation

Answer 15

The monkeys reared with wire mothers only grew up the most socially dysfunctional (they were more aggressive and less sociable). However, even those reared with a soft toy as substitute did not develop normal social behaviour

Question 16

What did Harlow conclude for the CRITICAL PERIOD for normal development in monkeys?
What would happen if an attachment was not formed in this time?

Answer 16

A mother figure had to be introduced to an infant monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form. After this time attachment was impossible and the damage done by early deprivation became irreversible

Question 17

Harlow: EV: Theoretical value

Answer 17

• Deepened our understanding of human mother-infant attachment. Harlow showed that attachment does not develop as the result of being fed by a mother figure but as a result of contact comfort.
• He also showed us the importance of the quality of early relationships for later social development including the ability to maintain adult relationships and successfully bring up children

Question 18

Harlow: EV: Practical value

Answer 18

• Research has helped social workers understand the risk factors in child neglect and abuse so they can intervene to prevent it.
• This also shows us the importance of providing baby monkeys in zoos with proper attachment figures.

Question 19

Harlow: EV: Ethical issues

Answer 19

• The monkeys suffered great distress as a result of his procedures.
• This species is considered similar enough to humans to be able to generalise the findings, which also means that their suffering was presumably human-like.
• And, Harlow was well aware of the suffering caused.
• However, Harlow’s research was important enough to justify the effects.