Animal Studies / Bowbys Attachment Thory

Question 1

How did Lorenz study attachment using animals

Answer 1

• Lorenz did a study with geese/ goose
• he randomly split the eggs in to two groups
• one group of the eggs hatched with the mother goose present
• the other half hatched in a incubator with Lorenz present
• the behaviour of the infant geese was recorded

Question 2

How did Harlow study attachments using animals

Answer 2

• Harlow set this up in a controlled environment
• infant baby monkeys were placed with two mother monkeys made of different materials
• one was made of wire which dispensed food and the other was a cloth covered mother monkey with no food.
• The time spent with the mothers were recorded And so were long term effects such as sociability

Question 3

Findings of Lorenz research

Answer 3

• the geese divided themselves up - one followed natural mother the other followed Lorenz
• imprinting is restricted to a definite period of time (critical period)
• imprinting is similar to attachment in that it binds the young to the caregiver

Question 4

What is a critical period

Answer 4

• critical period is 12 - 16 hours after a goose is hatched

- if imprinting does not occur in this critical period it will not imprint - its irreversible

Question 5

Bowby’s theory of attachment

Answer 5

• bowby believed human had evolved to attach to their primary caregiver to increase their chance of survival
• bowby argues humans have an innate drive to attach to a primary care giver ( innate programming)

Question 6

Define monotropy/ monotropic

Answer 6

Bowby placed a great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver. This attachment is different and more important to others

Question 7

What are social releasers

Answer 7

Bowby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping.
- Their purpose is to activate adult social interaction, to make an adult attach to the baby

Question 8

What is the internal working model

Answer 8

Our mental representations of the world, a set of conscious / unconscious rules and expectations which will be applied to all relationships we develop

Question 9

What is continuity hypothesis

Answer 9

The securely attached infants will continue to develop secure relationships with others later in life

Question 10

Strengths of bowlbys theory

Answer 10

• supporting role of social releasers

- support of internal working model

Question 11

What did Harlow study suggest

Answer 11

The evidence suggested that warmth and comfort rather than food were more important in nurturing an attachment and provided scientific evidence against the behaviourist cupboard love theory

Question 12

Learning theory of attachment

Answer 12

• when an infant is hungry there is a drive to remove discomfort which happens as a result
• once the child is fed this produces a feelings of pleasure which is positive reinforcement