Animal studies of attachment Flashcards
What have animal studies been used to look at?
The formation of early bonds between non-human parents and their offspring
What was the process of Lorenz’s study?
- Randomly divided a clutch of geese eggs.
- Half were hatched in a natural environment with their mother present.
- Other half were hatched with Lorenz being the first moving object that they see.
Who did the incubator group follow?
Lorenz
Who did the control group follow?
Their mother
What is imprinting?
Where the species, from birth, will attach and follow the first moving thing they see.
How long did Lorenz believe the critical period was?
The first few hours after birth
What 2 animals were involved in the sexual imprinting research?
A tortoise and a peacock
Which animal imprinted on who? (sexual imprinting)
The peacock imprinted onto the tortoise
What happened when the peacock became an adult? (sexual imprinting research)
The peacock wanted to mate with the tortoise
What research support is there to support Lorenz’s study?
- Regolin and Vallortigara found that chicks imprinted onto moving shapes.
- They gave them shape combinations and they imprinted onto the original shape.
- Supports the view that young animals will imprint onto the first moving object that they see.
What limitation is there for Lorenz’s research?
- There is a lack of generalisability to humans
- This is because in mammals, attachment is a 2 way process so not only the young get attached
- Not appropriate to generalise findings to humans
What is a strength of Harlow’s research?
- Real world value
- It can help child psychologists to understand how a lack of bonding experience can effect child development
- It can help them to prevent poor outcomes in child development
- Harlow’s research is practical
What is a limitation of Harlow’s research?
- Ethical issues
- Caused long term distress to the monkeys
