Animal Studies Of Attachement - Lorenz And Harlow Flashcards
Animal studies
Studies carried out on non- human animal species rather than humans, either for ethical or practical reasons . The ethical reasons being that separating human infants from parents is not moral . Practical reasons being that animals breed faster, researchers are interested in seeing results in across more than one generation.
Imprinting
Where offspring follow the first large moving object they see.
What is contact comfort?
The physical and emotional comfort that infants derive from being in close physical contact with their caregiver, particularly in terms of touch and warmth.
Lorenz ‘s Research
What did Lorenz’s other research show about sexual imprinting?
- He investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult male preference
- Birds that imprinted on a human would display courtship behaviours towards humans
- Lorenz used the example of a case study of a peacock who grew up in a reptile zoo and therefore the first moving object were hatching giant tortoises. As an adult this peacock would display courtship behaviours to the tortoise
- therefore the peacock had gone through sexual imprinting
What are the implications of Lorenz’s research?
• Lorenz’s research suggests attachment is biologically programmed and adaptive for survival, as seen in goslings imprinting within minutes.
• Imprinting happens in a critical period and is irreversible, indicating a strong biological influence on early attachment.
• Human babies do not imprint immediately as they are born immobile, reducing the need for instant attachment.
What are some strengths of Lorenz’s study?
(+) Lorenz’s research has good internal validity. This is because Lorenz controlled the independent variable of how the goslings hatched. Therefore, it can be established that the gosling’s behaviour was caused by the change in the independent variable, rather than by other factors.
(+) Lorenz’s research has been used by other researchers. His findings on imprinting and the possible idea that attachments are biological, gave Bowlby the idea of the critical and sensitive period in his work on monotropy and the maternal deprivation hypothesis. This demonstrates how Lorenz’s research has been applied in other areas.
What are some limitations for Lorenz’s study?
(-) Sluckin (1966) questioned if there was a critical period. He replicated Lorenz’s study
with ducklings. He imprinted them onto himself but kept one in isolation after Lorenz’s supposed critical period. He found it was still possible to imprint the isolated duckling. He concluded that the critical period was a sensitive period. Rather than there being a specific time within which an attachment must form, if it is to form at all (critical period), the sensitive period is the best time for attachments to form. They can still form outside of this period but with more difficulty. This contradicts Lorenz’s findings and questions both the consistency and the accuracy of his findings.
(-) There may be some ethical issues that need to be considered in Lorenz’ research. The study involved manipulating the geese’s early experiences such as imprinting on a human rather than their biological mother. This then had consequences in terms of who the geese showed courtship behaviour towards. While this approach provided useful insights into animal behavior, it is considered ethically questionable by modern psychological standards. Furthermore, such conditions would not be feasible or ethical in human research which creates the question about whether psychologists should be allowed to do this to other species.
What did Harlow use for his Research?
• Harlow studied rhesus monkeys, which are more similar to humans than geese due to shared DNA and social behaviors.
• Newborn monkeys were separated from their mothers and raised in isolation, showing distress when removed from familiar objects.
• Monkeys formed attachments to baby blankets, reacting similarly to being separated from their mothers, highlighting the importance of comfort in attachment.
Harlow’s research
Harlow’s research on maternally deprived monkeys as adults
- Monkeys raised with only wire mothers showed severe dysfunction, exhibiting fear and aggression.
- Even monkeys raised with a soft toy as a substitute mother had abnormal social behaviours, being more aggressive and less sociable.
- Deprived monkeys struggled with parenting, neglecting or attacking their own offspring, sometimes even killing them.
What did Harlow state about the critical period for normal development?
Like Lorenz, Harlow concluded that there was a critical period for attachment. A mother figure had to be introduced to an infant monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form. After this time, attachment was impossible, and the damage done by the lack of an early attachment became irreversible.
What are the implications ?
- Rhesus monkeys preferred comfort over food, suggesting that comfort, not food, is crucial in forming attachments, challenging the learning theory.
- Isolated monkeys, despite being fed, failed to develop normal social behavior, indicating that attachment requires more than just food provision.
- Long-term dysfunctional behavior in isolated monkeys shows that early attachment experiences are crucial for future social development.
What are the strengths of Harlows research?
(+)Harlow’s research has real-life application. It has helped social workers understand the risk factors in abuse and neglect and the importance of comfort to children at a young age. It has also changed how animals are looked after in zoos. It has been identified that particularly young animals need some sort of comfort from objects and others. This demonstrates the positive impact Harlow’s research has had on societal issues.
(+) Harlow’s work was instrumental in shaping attachment theory, particularly the importance of early emotional bonds for healthy development. It influenced the work of later psychologists, such as John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, and contributed to the development of attachment theory in humans.
What are the limitations of Harlow’s research?
(-) There are extrapolation issues with animal studies. Although humans and monkeys share a similar genetic make-up, they are still a different species with distinct behaviours, biological processes, and social structures. The way a human infant develops an attachment with their primary caregiver could be very different to the way monkeys form an attachment with their primary caregiver. This is because humans have more complex social, emotional, and cognitive needs.
(-)There were several ethical issues involved in Harlow’s research. The monkey’s suffered greatly from psychological harm as they had been separated from their mothers. The monkeys who were only given the wire ‘mother’ had severe diarrhoea which is a sign of stress. As monkeys are similar to humans, it can be inferred that their level of suffering is also similar. This questions whether the benefits of Harlow’s research outweigh the cost of the monkey’s health.
