animal studies evaluation

Question 1

Research is unethical

Answer 1

animals cannot be consented and in Harlow’s research the monkeys showed signs of stress and it affected them negatively as adults

Question 2

Results cannot be generalised to humans - monkeys and birds may form attachments differently to humans

Question 3

Harlow’s study was conducted in a controlled, laboratory setting

Answer 3

He controlled extraneous variables as the monkeys were taken from their mothers straight after birth, so the baby monkeys were not exposed to love or attention from their biological mothers - Therefore, the study has high internal validity, allowing a cause and effect relationship to be established

Question 4

Harlow’s experiment is sometimes justified as providing a valuable insight into the development of attachment and social behaviour. At the time of the research there was a dominant belief that attachment was related to physical (i.e. food) rather than emotional care.

Question 5

Harlow’s research has practical applications

Answer 5

• It has helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse and so intervene to prevent it
• We also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes in the wild

Question 6

Humans and monkeys are similar