Animal studies of attachment Flashcards
In the early 20th century a number of ethologists conducted animal studies of…
the relationships between newborn animals and their mothers
Ethologists’ observations of animal studies informed psychologists’ understanding of…
caregiver-infant attachment in humans
Which phenomenon did Lorenz (1952) observe?
Imprinting
Lorenz (1952) first observed the phenomenon of imprinting when he was at what stage in his life?
A child
Lorenz (1952) first observed the phenomenon of imprinting when he was a child and a neighbour gave him…
a newly hatched duckling that then followed him around
Lorenz (1952) first observed the phenomenon of imprinting when he was a child and a neighbour gave him a newly hatched duckling that…
then followed him around
As an adult Lorenz (1952) set up a classic experiment in which he divided a large clutch of goose eggs in what way?
Randomly
As an adult Lorenz (1952) set up a classic experiment in which he randomly divided a large clutch of…
goose eggs
What were the conditions in Lorenz (1952)’s study?
Half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment and the other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
In Lorenz (1952)’s study, what was the first moving object that the eggs hatched in an incubator saw?
Lorenz
What did Lorenz (1952) find that the incubator group did in his study?
Followed Lorenz everywhere
What did Lorenz (1952) find that the control group did in his study?
Followed the mother
What happened when Lorenz (1952) mixed the two groups up in his study?
The control group followed the mother and the experimental group followed Lorenz
Which group was the control group in Lorenz’ study?
The group hatched in the presence of the mother
Which group was the experimental group in Lorenz’ study?
The group hatched in the incubator
What was the phenomenon that Lorenz (1952) researched called?
Imprinting
What is imprinting in terms of bird species that are mobile from birth?
They attach to and follow the first moving object they see
Lorenz identified a ________ ______ in which imprinting needs to take place
critical period
When is the critical period?
Depending on the species this can be as brief as a few hours after hatching (or birth)
What did Lorenz find happened if imprinting did not occur within the critical period?
Chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure
Lorenz also investigated the relationship between imprinting and what kind of preferences?
Adult mate preferences
Lorenz (1952) observed that birds that imprinted on a human would often later display…
courtship behaviour towards humans
In a case study Lorenz (1952) described a peacock that had been…
reared in the reptile house of a zoo where the first moving objects the peacock saw after hatching were giant tortoises
In a case study Lorenz (1952) described a peacock that had been reared in the reptile house of a zoo where the first moving objects the peacock saw after hatching were…
giant tortoises
In Lorenz (1952)’s peacock case study, as an adult this bird would only direct courtship behaviour towards what?
Giant tortoises
Why did the peacock in Lorenz (1952)’s case study only direct courtship towards giant tortoises?
They were the first moving objects the peacock saw after hatching
What did Lorenz (1952) conclude about the peacock in his case study?
It had undergone sexual imprinting
Who carried out the most important animal research in terms of informing our understanding of attachment?
Harlow
Which animal did Harlow work with?
Rhesus monkeys
Which are more similar to birds, Lorenz’s birds or Harlow’s rhesus monkeys?
Harlow’s rhesus monkeys
Harlow (1958) observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage often…
died
Harlow (1958) observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage often died but that they usually survived if…
given something soft like a cloth to cuddle
Which idea did Harlow (1958) test?
The idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother
How did Harlow (1958) test the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother?
He reared 16 monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’. In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother
How many monkeys did Harlow (1958) rear?
16
Harlow (1958) reared 16 monkeys two wire model ‘_______’
mothers
What were the two conditions in Harlow (1958) research?
In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother
What were Harlow (1958)’s findings?
The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened
Harlow (1958) found that the baby monkeys cuddled which mother in preference to the other?
The cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother
What frightened the baby monkeys in Harlow (1958)’s study?
A noisy mechanical teddy bear
Harlow (1958) found that the baby monkeys sought comfort from the cloth mother when frightened, regardless of…
which mother dispensed milk
What did Harlow (1958)’s findings show?
‘Contact comfort’ was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour
Harlow found that what was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour?
‘Contact comfort’
Harlow (1958) and colleagues also followed which monkeys into adulthood?
Monkeys who had been deprived of a ‘real’ mother
Why did Harlow and his colleagues follow monkeys who had been deprived of a ‘real’ mother into adulthood?
To see if this early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect
True/False: When investigating to see if early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect on monkeys, the researchers didn’t find very severe consequences
False: they found severe consequences
Harlow and his colleagues found that monkeys reared with which mothers were the most dysfunctional in adulthood?
Plain-wire mothers only
True/False: Harlow (1958) and colleagues found that even the monkeys reared with a cloth-covered mother did not develop normal social behaviour
True
Harlow (1958) and his colleagues found that maternally deprived monkeys had what characteristics?
Were more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys and they bred less often than is typical for monkeys being unskilled at mating
True/False: Harlow (1958) and his colleagues found that maternally deprived monkeys were unskilled at mating
True
Harlow (1958) and his colleagues found that when maternally deprived monkeys became mothers some of the deprived monkeys did what to their young?
Neglected them, attacked them and even killed them in some cases
Similarly to Lorenz, Harlow concluded that…
there was a critical period for attachment formation - a mother figure had to be introduced to a young monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form
Harlow (1958) concluded that there was a critical period for attachment formation - a mother figure had to be introduced to a monkey within how many days for an attachment to form?
90
Harlow concluded that if a mother figure wasn’t introduced to a young monkey within 90 days, attachment was…
impossible and the damage done by early deprivation became irreversible
Harlow concluded that if a mother figure wasn’t introduced to a young monkey within 90 days, attachment was impossible and…
the damage done by early deprivation became irreversible
True/False: Harlow said that if a monkey didn’t form an attachment within the first 90 days of its life attachment was impossible and the damage done by early deprivation became irreversible
True
One strength of Lorenz’s research is the existing support for the concept of __________
imprinting
Who’s study supports Lorenz’s idea of imprinting (apart from Harlow’s)?
Regolin and Vallortigara (1995)
What did Regolin and Vallortigara (1995) do in their study?
Chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved, such as a triangle with a rectangle in front
In Regolin and Vallortigara (1995)’s study, chicks were exposed to what that moved?
shape combinations
In Regolin and Vallortigara (1995)’s study, chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved, such as…
a triangle with a rectangle in front
After being exposed to simple shape combinations that moved, chicks in Regolin and Vallortigara (1995)’s study then had a range of shape combinations moved in front of them and they…
followed the original most closely
Regolin and Vallortigara (1995)’s findings supports the view that young animals are…
born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development, as predicted by Lorens
One limitation of Lorenz’s studies is the ability to generalise findings and conclusions from…
birds to humans
True/False: The mammalian attachment system is quite different and more complex than that in birds
True
How is the mammalian attachment system quite different and more complex than that in birds?
In mammals attachment is a two-way process, so it is not just the young who become attached to their mothers but also the mammalian mothers show an emotional attachment to their young
In mammals attachment is a ___-___ process, so it is not just the young who become attached to their mothers but also the mammalian mothers show an emotional attachment to their young
two-way
In mammals attachment is a two-way process, so it is not just the young who become attached to their mothers but also…
the mammalian mothers show an emotional attachment to their young
Although human attachment is very different from that in birds there have been attempts to use the idea that some kind of ‘__________’ explains human behaviour
imprinting
What does Seebach (2005) mean by his suggestion that computer users exhibit ‘baby duck syndrome’?
The attachment formed to their first computer operating system, leading them to reject others
One strength of Harlow’s research is its important…
real-world applications
True/False: Harlow’s research has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development
True
Harlow’s research has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that…
a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development
What has been the impact of Harlow’s research helping social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development?
It has allowed them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes
We also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in which environments?
zoos and breeding programmes in the wild
Harlow’s research is not jus theoretical but also…
practical
One limitation of Harlow’s research is the ability to generalise findings and conclusions from…
monkeys to humans
True/False: Rhesus monkeys are much more similar to humans than Lorenz’s birds
True
True/False: Not all mammals share common attachment behaviours
False, they do
The fact that the human brain and human behaviour is more complex than that of monkeys means what about Harlow’s research?
It may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings to humans
Harlow’s research caused severe long-term stress to the monkeys. What type of issue is this?
Ethical
