Animal Studies of attachment Flashcards
When was Lorenz study
1935
Who conducted a study on goslings
Lorenz
How did Lorenz study imprinting
Took a group of gosling eggs and split them into two groups, one in an incubator and one with their natural mother. When the incubated goslings hatched the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz
What did Lorenz do to test the effects of imprinting
He placed the two groups of goslings back together with both Lorenz and the natural mother present. Lorenz marked the two groups to distinguish them. He found that the goslings quickly divided up to follow their previous parent. They had no recognition of their natural mother
Did Lorenz goslings recognise their natural mother
No, they had no recognition of their natural mother
What is imprinting
An innate readyness to develop a strong bond with their mothers at a certain point in development
What period was imprinting limited to
A very specific period, which for the goslings was within the first two days
What did Lorenz call the specific imprinting period
The critical period
What happens if an animal is not exposed to a moving object in the critical period
It will not imprint
What animals did Lorenz find wouldn’t imprint on humans
Curlews
What are did Lorenz find the characteristics of imprinting to be
Long lasting and irreversible
What evidence did Lorenz have that imprinting was long lasting and irreversable
One of the geese would sleep in Lorenz bed each night
How did imprinitng affect mating and what is this called
The animals will choose to mate with the same kind of object they imprinted on, called sexual imprinting
Who supports Lorenz study (mostly)
Guiton
What did Guiton do
Demonstrated imprinting in animals. Leghorn chicks who were exposed to a yellow glove whilst being fed for the first few weeks of life would imprint on the glove. Later they tried to mate with the glove. Supports the view that animals are not born with a predisposition to imprint on a specific object and sexual imprinting
What did Guiton find
Support for imprinting and a lack of predisposition to imprint on a specific object, as well as sexual imprinting
What is an issue with Lorenz conclusions over imprinting
Guiton found that imprinting was reversable, managing to reverse imprinting on chickens who tried to mate with the yellow glove. By spending time with their own species they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour
What does Guiton’s ability to reverse imprinting suggest
That imprinting may not be very different from other kinds of learning that is done rapidly without concious effort but also reversable
Who found that imprinting was reversable
Guiton
What did Harlow try to demonstrate using their study
That attachment was not based on a feeding bond between mother and infant
How did Harlow conduct their study
Created two wire mothers with different heads. One was wrapped in soft cloth. Eight infant monkeys were studied for 165 days, for four the milk bottle was on the cloth mother, and for the other four it was on the wire one. Measurements were made of the amount of time the monkey spent with each mother, their response to being frightened was also observed
How many monkeys were used in Harlow’s experiment
8 monkeys
How long were Harlow’s monkeys observed for
165 days
What did Harlow find
That all 8 monkeys spent the most time with the cloth covered mother, even if the milk was on the other one. Those who fed from the wire mother spent a little time with the wire one feeding then returned to the other one. They also ran to the cloth mother when frightened
What do Harlow’s findings suggest
That monkeys don’t form attachments based on feeding but contact comfort
What were the consequences of Harlow’s study on the monkeys
All monkeys developed abnormally, froze or fled when approached by other monkeys. Sexually abnormal as they didn’t display normal mating behaviour and did not cradle their own babies.
How could long term consequences be avoided for Harlow’s monkeys
If they spent time with their peers before three months, the critical period
When did the monkeys from Harlow’s study not recover
They could not recover from having six months with only a wire mother
What is an issue with Harlow’s wire mothers
The heads on the monkeys were different, which may have acted as a confounding variable. This means it lacks internal validity
What is an issue for Harlow’s research and animal studies in general
Not possible to generalise behaviour to humans, as much more of our behaviour is governed by concious decisions, compared to monkeys who are governed by instinct. However Shaffer and Emmerson found that infant’s were not attached to who fed them, so there is support for similar behaviour in humans
Who supports the findings of Harlow’s study even if animal behaviour is not generalisable to humans
Schaffer and Emmerson, found that humans become attached to whoever shows them the most sensitivity
What is an obvious issue with Harlow’s study considering the monkeys
It is unethical, even when done on monkeys. Caused lasting emotional harm to monkeys who couldn’t form relationships with peers. Could be justified by arguing the knowldge gained outweighed the cost
How can Harlow’s study be justified
Benefit’s outweigh cost
