Animal Studies Of Attachment

Question 1

Lorenz (1952)

Answer 1

Goose eggs were randomly divided, half hatched in natural environment with mother present, half in an incubator with Lorenz present. Goslings followed and formed an attachment to the first moving object they saw (imprinting) 4-8 hours after birth (critical period)

Question 2

Harlow (1958)

Answer 2

Infant monkeys reared with two mother surrogates (wire mother dispensing food and cloth-covered mother with no food). Baby monkeys preferred cloth-covered mother, showing contact comfort was more important than food to attachment. Maternal deprivation lead to aggressive, unsocial behaviour

Question 3

Strengths of animal studies of attachment

Answer 3

• Research supporting imprinting (eg. Regolin & Vallortigara found chicks followed moving shape first exposed to)
• Real world application (eg. Social workers and clinical psychologists understand risks of maternal deprivation)

Question 4

Limitations of animal studies of attachment

Answer 4

• Unable to generalise findings from birds to humans (eg. Mammalian attachment is a two-way emotional process)
• Ethical issues (eg. Monkeys experienced severe long-term distress)