Animal Studies Flashcards
Lorenz: aim
to find out whether baby geese (goslings) would imprint on the first moving object they saw
Lorenz: procedure
Randomly divided 12 goose eggs
- half with him, so Lorenz is the first moving object they saw
- half with goose mother, in natural environment
they were then mixed in an upturned box
Lorenz imitated a duck quack
Lorenz: findings
incubator group followed Lorenz, and group with goose followed their mother
Lorenz found there was a 12-17 hour critical period where geese followed 1st moving object they see, called imprinting
Lorenz- conclusions/suggestions
imprinting suggests attachment is innate and programmed genetically
Harlow:aim
to find out whether provision of food or contact is more important in formation of mother infant attachment
to find out whether monkeys prefer source of food or source of comfort
Harlow-procedure
rhesus monkeys raised in isolation
- 2 ‘surrogate’ mothers
1. cloth mother (no food)
2. wire mother (food)
Harlow-results
spent most time with cloth mother (tactile comfort - esp in new situations)
Only used wire one to feed
monkeys grew up with signs of emotional and social disturbance
female monkeys who have children of their own turned out to be Bad mothers, often violent
Harlow-conclusion
infant monkeys formed more of an attachment with those that provided comfort and protection
Strength of animal studies (adaption of..)
ADAPTION OF HARLOWS STUDY
-harlow and zimmerman added a fearful stimulus and monkeys went to cloth - comfort
Strength of Animal Studies (harlows is supported)
SUPPORTED BY SCHAFFER + EMERSON
-infants not most attached to person who fed them
Weakness of Animal Studies (extrapolation)
PROBLEM WITH EXTRAPOLATION
- problems with extrapolation to attachments in human infants
- because the nature of attachment in non-human species could differ completely to human infants
Weakness of animal studies (ethics)
ETHICAL ISSUES
- surrounding use of animals
- they cannot give consent whereas humans do
- Harlow- monkeys distressed
