Animal Studies of Attachment

Question 1

Animal studies

Answer 1

Studies using non-human animal species instead of humans for ethical or practical reasons
E.g. animals breed faster => can see results over more than 1 generation

Question 2

Lorenz’s Research into Impriniting

Answer 2

P: divided goose eggs - 1/2 hatched in incubator, 1/2 with mother goose + natural environment

F: Incubator group followed Lorenz + control followed their mother even when groups were mixed up

Conclusion - Imprinted after hatching - bird species once mobile follow first moving object they see w/ critical period for attachment to occur

Question 3

Sexual Imprinting

Answer 3

Case study - peacock reared in a reptile house of a zoo would only direct courtship towards giant tortoises

Question 4

AO3 of Lorenz - Research Support (S)

Answer 4

Regolin + Vallortigara study of chicks following simple shape combinations they were exposed to even with a range of other shape combos

SUPPORTS view that young animals are born with innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present during critical period like L predicted

Question 5

AO3 of Lorenz - Generalisability to humans (L)

Answer 5

Mammalian attachment system is quite diff + more complex than birds

=> e.g. is a 2 way system where mammalian mothers show emotional attachment to their young not just young being attached

SUGGESTS not appropriate to generalise ideas to humans

Question 6

Harlow’s Research of Contact Comfort

Answer 6

P: Reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire mothers - 1 with milk no cloth 1 with cloth + milk

F: Baby monkeys preferred cloth mother + went to it for comfort regardless of which dispensed milk

SHOWS contact comfort is more important to monkeys than food in attachment behaviour

Question 7

Maternally Deprived monkeys as Adults - Harlow

Answer 7

Followed monkeys deprived of real mother => severe consequences (plain wire most dysfunctional)

• More aggressive + less sociable
• Bred less often than typical
• Unskilled at mating
• Neglected their young => attacking them and in some cases killing them

Question 8

Critical period for normal development in Harlow’s monkeys

Answer 8

90 days - after this time attachment is impossible + damage done by early deprivation is irreversible

Question 9

AO3 of Harlow - Real World Value (S)

Answer 9

Howe (‘98) - Helps social workers + clinical psychologists understand risk of lack of bonding in child development

• Also importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos + breeding programmes in the wild

MEANS value of Harlow’s research is practical

Question 10

AO3 of Harlow - Generalisability to Humans (L)

Answer 10

Rhesus monkeys are more similar to humans than Lorenz’s b irds + all mamals share some common attachment behaviours

HOWEVER human brain + behaviour is still more complex
SUGGESTS it’s not appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings to humans

Question 11

AO3 Extra - Applications to understanding human behaviour

Answer 11

Attempts to use idea of impriniting to human behaviour to objects

Seebach - computers exhibit ‘baby duck syndrome’ => attachment to first computer system leading to rejecting all others