Animal studies - Lorenz & Harlow

Question 1

Explain imprinting?

Answer 1

• Phenomenon in natural world
• Process whereby young animals follow & form attachment to first large moving object they meet
• Imprinting mainly shown by nidifugous birds (ones that leave nest early)
• Imprinting has consequences for short term survival & long term future relationships
• No feeding takes place for imprinting
• If no attachment has taken place within 32 hours its unlikely attachment will ever develop
• Imprinting provides animals with info about who they are, how they behave, who they find attractive

Question 2

What are the 2 animal studies?

Answer 2

1. Lorenz (1935) Imprinting in Geese
2. Harlow (1958) Rhesus Monkeys study

Question 3

Aim of Lorenz’s (1935) study?

Answer 3

• Lorenz wanted to investigate imprinting in regards to attachment

Question 4

Procedure of Lorenz (1935)?

Answer 4

• 12 eggs used in study
• Lorenz split large clutch of greylag goose eggs into 2 batches
• 1 batch was hatched naturally & the imprinting would naturally be analysed
• Other batch was hatched in incubator & Lorenz was the first moving object goslings met
• Lorenz recorded their behaviour & marked them as either incubator/natural conditions
• IV: Whether when hatched they saw mother goose/Lorenz as first moving object
• DV: Imprinting behaviour/time taken to imprint/time imprinting could no longer occur

Question 5

Results of Lorenz (1935)?

Answer 5

• Immediately after birth, naturally hatched condition followed their mother
• Incubator hatched followed Lorenz & showed no response to the mother (irreversible change)
• Imprinting occurred within 4-25 hours
• Imprinting & following must last minimum 10 mins to work

Question 6

Conclusion of Lorenz (1935)?

Answer 6

• Because imprinting was irreversible suggests it is an innate process not learnt
• Critical period for forming attachment has been carried over to human attachments
• Adult geese who imprinted on humans later tried to mate with humans: shows imprinting is important for future relationships

Question 7

AO3 Lorenz
Hard to generalise?

Answer 7

P - Hard to generalise to humans as we are altricial species vs geese who are precocial species
E - Humans have biological differences that make us too dissimilar from geese e.g. geese can fly & have wings, tailored for their species
E - Arguments of evolutionary discontinuity state extrapolation of findings are not possible
L - We need to be careful when applying the findings to humans

Question 8

AO3 Lorenz
High reliability?

Answer 8

P - Strength of Lorenz is high reliability into imprinting
E - Due to standardised procedures e.g. continually making geese noises to attract them as the first moving object they saw
E - Work on imprinting can be replicated & checked for consistency (what Hess did in 1960s)
L - Therefore it is clear the research is high reliability due to the replicated studies thereafter increasing the credibility of the study

Question 9

AO3 Lorenz
High ecological validity?

Answer 9

P - Research contains high levels of ecological validity
E - Geese’ environment after birth similar to the natural environment they would have had, had Lorenz not intervened
E - However findings do not relate to real life human attachment behaviour
L - We cannot use studies like these to help understand the link to human attachment relationships as animal studies in artificial lab settings may not represent experience of their own species reared in the wild, let alone human attachment r’ships

Question 10

AO3 Lorenz
Ethical issues?

Answer 10

P - Research arguably unethical
E - Ethical guidelines state psychologists should minimise discomfort to animals as much as possible
E - So removing goslings from their mothers & attaching them to a human could disrupt attachment in adulthood (abnormal reproductive behaviours)
L - Therefore Lorenz’s research may have ethical & moral dilemmas

Question 11

Aim of Harlow (1958)?

Answer 11

• Wanted to investigate whether attachments were primarily formed through food (explained by learning theory) with rhesus monkeys & their mothers
• Rhesus monkeys are altricial (highly dependent on mothers)

Question 12

Procedure of Harlow (1958)?

Answer 12

• 16 monkeys separated from mother immediately after birth
• Harlow placed them in individual cages with access to 2 surrogate mothers
• One mother made of wire
• Other mother made of soft towel cloth
• Monkeys studied for 165 studies
• IV: Amount of time spent with each mother
• DV: Amount of time spent feeding

Question 13

Results of Harlow (1958)?

Answer 13

• ## Infants spent up to 15 hours a day with soft mother vs hour a day with wire mother

Question 14

Conclusion of Harlow (1958)?

Answer 14

• Support evolutionary theory of attachment (Bowlby) & critical period
• Sensitive response & security of caregiver is important, not food

Question 15

AO3 Harlow
Hard to generalise?

Answer 15

P -
E -
E -
L -

Question 16

AO3 Harlow
High reliability?

Answer 16

P -
E -
E -
L -

Question 17

AO3 Harlow
Practical applications?

Answer 17

P -
E -
E -
L -

Question 18

AO3 Harlow
Low ecological validity?

Answer 18

P -
E -
E -
L -