Animal Studies In Attachment

Question 1

What were the aims of Lorenz goose experiment

Answer 1

He wanted to investigate imprinting in attachment formation

Question 2

What were the procedure and findings of Lorenz goose experiment

Answer 2

Procedure:
Lorenz randomly split a batch of eggs into two groups
One group eggs were hatched by their mother in their natural environment which was the control group
One group was hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz (experimental group)
The behaviour of the geese were then observed , as well was mating preferences
Findings:
The experimental group imprinted on Lorenz demonstrated the goose following Lorenz and they followed the mother in the other group
Even when the groups were mixed they followed the thing they imprinted on
Lorenz said imprinting only happened in critical period and that the goose grew up and showed mating behaviour with humans

Question 3

What are the 3 evaluation points to Lorenz experiment

Answer 3

• critical period validity is questioned when the experiment was repeated because when the experimenter isolated a duckling longer than the critical period , it still had the ability to form attachments.
  -imprinting can be reversed, this is shown when ducklings imprint on yellow gloves, they learn to understand that they prefer mating with other ducklings rather than the gloves .
  -its also hard to generalise to humans as humans are more complex compared to ducklings as humans attach in a two way process .

Question 4

What were the aims of harry harlows study on monkeys

Answer 4

Harlow wanted to find whether contact comfort was more important in attachment than food

Question 5

What were the procedure and findings of the monkey experiment - harry Harlow

Answer 5

The procedure: 16 baby monkeys were obtained
Two mothers were made out of either wire with food or just cloth with no food
The amount of time each monkey spent with each parent was recorded
The monkeys were also frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference in stress
Long term affects were recorded
Findings:
Monkey spent more time with the cloth mother as she provided comfort contact
They also used to stretch from the comfort mother to have food from the wired mother
When they were frightened they went to the cloth mother
As adults these monkeys were abusive and less social than other monkeys
Shows comfort is more important than food when it comes to attachment

Question 6

What are the evaluation points in harry harlows monkey experiment

Answer 6

-Highly valued research as this experiment had an affect on psychologists understanding of mother infant attachments. For example attachments form from comfort rather than food. Harlow showed the importance of quality of early relationships for later social development
-it also had practical applications in a range of contexts, for example helping social workers understand risk factors in child’s neglect and abuse to prevent it , knowledge can be applied to real life research
-ethical issues are that Harlow faced criticism , the monkeys suffered greatly and were deliberately stressed to find whether humans form attachment due to comfort or food, these monkeys are also closely related to humans so would have more drastic affects than other mammals however COUNTER argument is that this research is needed to highlight importance of comfort in relationships in humans
-however it cannot be generalised as humans are more complex than monkeys