Animal Studies Of Attachment Flashcards
Why were animal studies conducted?
They were conducted on the basis that there was a biological continuity between animals and humans.
What is biological continuity?
Uninterrupted connection (e.g. what is true for animals is also true for humans).
What is imprinting?
An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother during the critical period in development (usually the first few hours after birth).
What was the aim of Lorenz (1935)?
To investigate the mechanics of imprinting.
What was the method of Lorenz (1935)?
Separated a clutch of gosling eggs into two groups:
-Hatched next to natural mother.
-Hatched in incubator (with Lorenz being the first moving object they see).
All behaviours were recorded.
What were the results of Lorenz (1935)?
For both groups, the goslings proceeded to follow the first moving object they saw. Imprinting occurred during the ‘critical period’ of 12-17 hours.
What was the conclusion of Lorenz (1935)?
Imprinting is an innate form of attachment.
What is sexual imprinting?
Later mates are chosen based on the object they imprinted on.
What are evaluation points of Lorenz (1935)?
-Guiton (1966) found that chicks who were exposed to yellow gloves for the first few weeks became imprinted on the gloves.
-Sexual imprinting is reversible, as the chickens in Guiton’s (1966) study were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens.
-Humans are more complex compared to goslings, so attachment is not likely to be such a quick process in humans: birds have different survival requirements and develop into maturity much faster than a human.
What was the aim of Harlow (1959)?
To show that attachment is not based on the feeding bond.
What was the method of Harlow (1959)?
16 monkeys were separated from their mothers at birth and placed in cages with access to 2 ‘mothers’ that are made of wire: clothed & unclothed.
8 monkeys got milk from the clothed mother.
8 monkeys got milk from the unclothed mother.
The monkeys were studied for 165 days.
What were the results of Harlow (1959)?
-Both groups spent more time with the cloth mother, regardless of which one provided milk.
-The monkeys would only go to the wire mother if they were hungry.
-If a frightening object is placed in a cage, the monkeys took refuge with the cloth mother.
What was the conclusion of Harlow (1959)?
Monkeys have an innate need for contact comfort, suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security rather than food.
What happened to monkeys who were left in the cages for:
-Less than 90 days?
-More than 90 days?
Less than 90 days: effects are reversible.
More than 90 days: aggressive, females were inadequate mothers.
What are the abnormalities that the monkeys developed?
-Social abnormalities.
-Sexual abnormalities.
