Animal Studies (Attachment)

Question 1

Lorenz

Answer 1

Carried out his experiment with grey lag geese
Condition 1: He was the first thing that the goose chicks saw when they hatched
Condition 2: The goose mother was the first thing the goose chicks saw when they hatched

Results:

C1: the chicks who saw Lorenz first followed him like they would their mother.

C2: the chicks which saw their mother first followed her when they were young.

He argued that imprinting d to take place within the ‘window of development’, which he called the critical period.

Question 2

Imprinting

Answer 2

the name given to this rapid formation of attachments by Lorenz. This is the tendency to form an attachment the first large moving object seen after birth.
In later studies he found that the strongest tendency to imprint takes place between 13 and 16 hours after the gosling has hatched.
By 32 hours, the tendency to imprint has virtually passed and the attachment will not take place.

Question 3

Sexual Imprinting

Answer 3

Investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult male preferences. The birds that imprinted on humans, later displayed courtship behaviours towards humans. Case study 1952.

Question 4

Harlow (method)

Answer 4

aimed to find out whether baby monkeys would prefer a source of food or a source of comfort and protection as an attachment figure. Rhesus monkeys were raised in isolation and had two surrogate mothers: one was made with wire mesh and had a feeding bottle and the other was made with cloth and had no feeding bottle.

Question 5

Harlow (Results)

Answer 5

The monkeys spent most of their time clinging to the cloth surrogate and only used the wire surrogate to feed. The cloth surrogate seemed to give them comfort in new situations. When the monkeys grew up, they showed signs of emotional and social disturbance. The females were bad mothers, often being violent towards their offspring.

Question 6

Harlow (conclusion)

Answer 6

Infant monkeys formed more of an attachment with a figure that provided comfort and protection. Growing up in isolation affected their development.

Question 7

Harlow (Evaluaiton)

Answer 7

-Lab experiment, strict control of variables so likely few extraneous variables.
-can’t be generalised to humans
-unethical, stressful situations and subsequent psychological damage. monkeys are social animals
-lacked ecological validity, unnatural environment
-couldn’t be repeated due to ethical guidelines

Question 8

(Evaluation of Lorenz) Questionable findings

Answer 8

imprinting and mating behaviour- Guiton et al 1966 found that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults but with experience they eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens

Question 9

(evaluation of Harlow) Theoretical value

Answer 9

Profound effect on understanding of mother-infant attachment. Attachment is formed through comfort not as a result of being fed. Importance of quality of early relationships for later social development including the ability to hold down adult relationships and successfully rear children.

Question 10

(Evaluation of Harlow) Practical value

Answer 10

Howe 1998, research has helped social workers understand risk actors in child neglect and abuse and how to prevent it. Importance of attachment for monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes.

Question 11

(Evaluation of Lorenz) Generalisability

Answer 11

• We cannot generalise the findings from Lorenz’s study to humans.
• Mammalian attachment is different from birds- they show more
emotional attachment and mammals may be able to form
attachments at any time