Animal studies of attachment

Question 1

What was Lorenz’s procedure ?

Answer 1

• He randomly divided goose eggs into 2 groups
• Half of the eggs were hatched naturally with their mother (control group)
• The other half were hatched in an incubator with Lorenz as their carer (experimental)

Question 2

What are the findings of Lorenz’s study ?

Answer 2

• The experimental group followed Lorenz’s and the control group followed the mother
• When the groups got mixed, the experimental group followed Lorenz and the control group followed the mother
• He found a critical period for imprinting and if imprinting didn’t happen in that period, the chick didn’t attach to a parent figure

Question 3

What is a strength of Lorenzo’s study ?

Answer 3

Regolin - supports the idea of imprinting.
Chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations.
The shapes then changed buy they followed the original most

Question 4

What is a limitation of Lorenzo’s study ?

Answer 4

Its difficult to generalise birds ti humans
The mammalian attachment is different to birds and ore complex
E.g they attach in different ways

Question 5

What did Harlow observe ?

Answer 5

He observed that newborn monkeys left alone in a bare cage often died but they survived if there was a cloth to cuddle

Question 6

What was Harlow’s procedure ?

Answer 6

• Tested to see if a soft-cloth would serve some functions as a mother
• Had 16 monkeys
• On one condition the wire mother gave milk
• On the 2nd condition the soft mother gave milk

Question 7

What were the findings of Harlow’s study ?

Answer 7

• the baby preferred the cloth mother even when the wire mother gave milk
• When frightened the monkey wanted the cloth monkey
• This shows cloth provides some functions of a mother
  -This also shows that comfort is preferred over food
• also found there was a critical age for attachment

Question 8

What is a strength of harlow’s study ?

Answer 8

• real-world value
• helped social workers understand the lack of bonds may lead to poor childhood
• research isn’t just theoretical but also practical

Question 9

What is a limitation of Harlow’s study ?

Answer 9

• too general for humans
• Human brain + character are much more complex than monkey’s