Animal Studies

Question 1

Lorenz study

Answer 1

1935- investigate imprinting (where youngster follow and form attachment to first large moving object they see)

Greylag goose eggs- split into 2 batches
1- hatches naturally with mother
2- hatches in incubator with Lorenz as first object seen

Question 2

Lorenz findings

Answer 2

Marked goslings from his group, placed all under a box
Lifted box

Natural- went to mother
Lorenz- went to him- no bond with natural mother
Bonds were irreversible- only follow those imprinted on

Question 3

Lorenz theories

Answer 3

Critical period- imprinting only occurs in a brief, set period of time called critical period between 4-25 hours after hatching

Sexual imprinting- relationship between imprinting and adult mating preferences- birds imprinted on humans showed courtship behaviour to them
Case study 1952- peacock reared in reptile house in zoo, imprinted on giant tortoise, later showed courtship behaviour to giant tortoises
Theorised they had undergone sexual imprinting

Question 4

Harlow research

Answer 4

1958- why we attach?
2 types of surrogate mother
Harsh- wire mother
Soft- towelling
16 monkeys, 4 in each of 4 conditions
1. Cage with wire mother producing milk
2. Cage containing towelling mother producing milk
3. Cage with wire mother producing milk and towelling mother producing no milk
4. Cage with wire mother producing no milk and towelling mother producing milk

Amount of time with mother and feeding time recorded
Frightened with loud noise to test which they go to when stressed
Larger cage used to test degree of exploration

Question 5

Harlow results

Answer 5

Baby monkeys cuddled cloth mother over wire mother and sought comfort from cloth when frightened, despite wire providing milk

Concluded Rhesus monkeys have innate, unlearned need for contact comfort suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security over food

Question 6

Harlow follow up

Answer 6

Reviewed infant monkeys reared in a social environment and found went on to be healthy adults
However, monkeys in isolations with surrogate mother displayed disfuncional adult behaviours:
Timid
Unpredictable and aggressive
Difficulty mating
Females were inadequate mothers

Harlow concluded there was a critical period for attachment of 90 days
If a mother was not introduced during this time it was impossible for an attachment to form as damage done by early deprivation was irreversible

Question 7

Strength Lorenz (support)

Answer 7

Regolin
supports Lorenz idea of imprinting

Chicks exposed to shapes that moved, followed original shape
Shows have innate mechanism to imprint on moving object in critical window of development

Question 8

Limitation lorenz (generalisation)

Answer 8

Can’t apply findings in birds to humans
Mammalian attachment is more complicated
Eg. Is a two way process
So not appropriate to apply Lorenz theory to humans

However
Whilst human attachment is different to birds it has been used to explain some ‘imprinting’ human behaviour-
Seebach
Found computer users have baby duck syndrome and attach to first computer operating system and reject others

Question 9

eval Harlow (generalisation)

Answer 9

Rhesus monkeys are more similar to humans than birds, and all mammals share similar attachment behaviours

However human brain is still more complicated than monkeys so still can’t apply Harlow findings to humans

Question 10

Strength harlow (practical)

Answer 10

Howe-
Helps social workers and psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes

Also applied to zoos
However, research caused long term distress to monkeys