Animal Studies of Attachment

Question 1

Lorenz (1952) - Goslings

Answer 1

IMPRINTING
1) Randomly divided large clutch of goose eggs:
- One half were hatched with mother goose in natural environment (control group).
- Other half hatched in incubator where first moving object they saw was Lorenz.
2) Mixed all goslings together to see whom they’d follow.
3) He also observed birds & their later courtship behaviour.

Question 2

Lorenz (1952) - Findings

Answer 2

1) Incubator group followed Lorenz - Control group followed mother.
2) He identified a critical period in which imprinting must happen - if imprinting didn’t occur, chicks didn’t attach themselves to mother figure.
3) Sexual imprinting also occurs whereby birds acquire a template of the desirable characteristics required in a mate.

Question 3

Harlow (1958) - Rhesus Monkeys

Answer 3

IMPORTANCE OF CONTACT COMFORT
1) Reared 16 rhesus monkeys with 2 wire model ‘mothers’ :
- Condition 1: milk dispensed by plain-wire mother.
- Condition 2: cloth-covered mother.
2) Preferences were measured - placed RMs in frightening situations (e.g. added noisy mechanical teddy bear to environment).
3) He continued to study RMs who were deprived of ‘real’ mothers into adulthood.

Question 4

Harlow (1958) - Findings

Answer 4

1) Cuddled cloth-covered mother in preference to wire-covered mother regardless of which dispensed milk –> suggests contact comfort mother was of more importance than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
2) Monkeys sought comfort from cloth mother when scared.
3) Monkeys’ behaviour can be reversed if they are under 90 days old.
3) As adults, RMs deprived of real mothers suffered severe consequences –> more aggressive, less sociable, less skilled in mating.

Question 5

Strength - Lorenz

Answer 5

RESEARCH SUPPORT

1) Regolin & Vallortigara (1995) exposed chicks to simple shape combos that moved.
2) When shown a range of moving shapes - chicks followed these in preference to other shapes –> suggests young animals are born with innate mechanism to imprint on moving objects.

Question 6

Limitation - Lorenz

Answer 6

GENERALISING - can’t extrapolate findings of animals onto humans since their minds & behaviour are more complex.

1) Mammalian attachment system is different to from imprinting in birds (e.g. mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young). —> So not appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s ideas about imprinting onto humans.

2) BUT, concept of imprinting can explain some human behaviour (e.g. ‘baby duck syndrome’, where computer users become attached to their first operating system). –> SO can be applied to certain human behaviour.

Question 7

Strength - Harlow

Answer 7

REAL-WORLD VALUE

1) Has helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse & thus intervene to prevent it (Howe 1998).
2) Also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos & breeding programmes
3) THEREFORE, Harlow’s research benefitted both humans & animals.

Question 8

Limitation - Harlow

Answer 8

GENERALISATION - can’t extrapolate findings of animals onto humans since their minds & behaviour are more complex.

1) Monkeys are more similar to humans than Lorenz’s goslings, & all mammals share some similarities in their attachment systems.
2) BUT, they aren’t human & human mind & behaviour are more complex –> so may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings to humans.

Question 9

Evaluation (Ethics) - Harlow

Answer 9

ETHICAL ISSUES

1) His procedures caused severe long-term distress to his pps, though the research led to useful applications.
2) BUT his findings have important theoretical & practical applications —> So in spite of its benefits, maybe shouldn’t have been carried out.