Animal Studies of Attachment Flashcards
1
Q
Lorenz (1952)
Imprinting
Procedure
A
- Lorenz set up a classical experiment.
- He randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs.
- Half the eggs were hatched with the mother in their natural environment (control group).
- The other half hatched in an incubator, where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz (experimental group).
2
Q
Lorenz (1952)
Imprinting
Findings
A
- Experimental group followed Lorenz everywhere.
- The control group followed the mother goose.
- When the two groups were mixed up, the geese continued to follow the same person.
- This phenomenon is called ‘imprinting’.
- Lorenze identified a critical period where imprinting needs to take place.
- Depending on the species, this can be as brief as a few hours after hatching.
- If imprinting does not occur in that time, Lorenz found chicks do not attach themselves to a mother figure.
3
Q
Lorenz (1952)
Sexual Imprinting
A
- Lorenz investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult male preferences.
- He observed that bird that imprinted on a human later display courtship behaviour towards humans.
- In a case study, Lorenz (1952) described a peacock that had been reared in the reptile house of a zoo.
- The first moving object the peacock saw was a giant tortoise.
- As an adult, this bird would only direct courtship to giant tortoises.
- Lorenz concluded that this meant the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting.
4
Q
Lorenz (1952): Evaluation
Research Support
Strength
A
- A study by Regolin and Vallortigara (1995) supports Lorenz’s idea of imprinting.
- Chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved.
- A range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they closely followed the original.
This supports the view that young animals are born with the inate mechanism to imprint on the first moving object present during that critical window.
5
Q
Lorenz (1952): Evaluation
Generalisability to Humans
Limitation
A
- It is difficult to generalise findings and conclusions from birds to humans.
- The mammalian attachment system is different and more complex than in birds.
- For example, attachment in humans is a two-way process.
- Meaning babies don’t just attach to their mother, but the mother will also attach to the baby.
This means it is probably not appropriate to generalise these findings to humans.
6
Q
Harlow (1958)
Contact Comfort
Procedure
A
- Harlow observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage often died, but they usually survived if given something soft to cuddle.
- He tested the idea that something soft serves some of functions of the mother.
- He reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’.
- In one condition, the milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother and in the second it was depensed by the cloth-covered mother.
7
Q
Harlow (1958)
Contact Comfort
Findings
A
- The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth mother in preference to the plain-wire mother.
- Sought comfort from it when frightened
- Showed that ‘contact comfort’ is more important than to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
8
Q
Harlow (1958)
Maternal Deprivation
Monkeys as Adults
A
- Harlow followed monkeys who had been deprived of a mother into adulthood.
- Monkeys reared with plain-wire mothers were the most dysfunctional.
- Even those with cloth-covered mothers did not develop normal social behaviour.
- Deprived monkeys were aggressive and less social than other monkeys and bred less (unskilled at mating).
- When they became mothers, some deprived mothers neglected their young and others attacked them (some even killing them in the process).
9
Q
Harlow (1958)
Critical Period
A
- Like Lorenz, Harlow concluded there is a critical period for attachment formation.
- A mother figure had to be introduced to a baby monkey within the first 90 days for an attachment to form.
- After this time, attachment is impossible and the damage done by early deprivation is irreversible.
10
Q
Harlow (1958): Evaluation
Real-world Value
Strength
A
- Harlow’s research has important real world application.
- It has helped social workers to understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in development.
- May allow them to intervene and prevent poor outcomes.
- We also now understand the important of attachment figures for baby animals in zoos and breeding programmes in the wild.
This means the value of Harlow’s research is not only theoretical but also practical.
11
Q
Harlow (1958): Evaluation
Generalisability to Humans
Limitation
A
- There is limited generalisability to humans.
- Although monkeys are more similar to humans than Lorenz’s birds.
- All mammals share some common attachment behaviours.
- However, the human brain is more complex than that of monkeys.
This means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings.
