animal studies of attachment Flashcards
lorenz procedure
randomly divided a large group of goose eggs
half eggs hatched with the mother good in natural environment
other half hatched in incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
lorenz findings
incubator group followed lorenz
control group followed mother
when mixed they followed same as before
imprinting occured
imprinting
attach to and follow the first moving object they see
critical period
period in which imprinting needs to take place
if imprinting does not occur within time - will not attach to a mother figure
monkeys - 90 days
sexual imprinting
birds that imprinted on a human would display courtship behaviour towards humans
case study of peacock in reptile house of zoo - giant tortoises
harlow - procedure
16 baby monkeys with two wire model mothers
one condition - milk was dispensed by plain wire
other - milk from cloth covered
harlow - findings
cuddled the cloth mother in preference to plain wire
comfort from cloth when frightened regardless of milk
contact comfort - more important than food
maternal deprivation
monkeys deprived of real mother
plain wire only - most dysfunctional
aggressive and less sociable
neglected young and attached children
research support - lorenz
P - strength is support for concept of imprinting
E - chicks exposed to simple shapes that moved eg triangle with rectangle in front
E - combinations moved in front of them and followed the original most closely
L - supports view young animals borns with innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object during critical period
generalisability to humans - lorenz
P - limited to generalise findings from birds to humans
E - mammalian attachment different and more complex
E - attachment for mammals is two way process and show emotional attachment to young
L - probably not appropriate to generalise findings
applications to understanding human behaviour - lorenz
P - even though very different - can use ideas
E - imprinting explains human behaviour
E - computer users exhibit baby duck syndrome - attachment formed to their first computer operating system
L - Seebach
real-world value - harlow
P - strength is its important real-world applicatins
E - clinical psychologists and social workers effect of lack of bonding - prevent poor outcomes
E - understand importance of attachment figures of baby monkeys for breeding programmes
L - value of Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but also practical
generalisability to humans
P - limited ability to generalise from humans to monkeys
E - monkeys more similar than birds and mammals share common attachment behaviours
E - human brain and behaviour still more complex
L - may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings
