Animal studies of Attachment Flashcards
why did ethologist conduct animal studies of the reationship of newborn animals and their mothers
observstions informed psychologists understanding of caregiver-infant attachment in humans
what is imprinting
idea that some species attach to the first moving object they see when their born
what was the procedure of Lorenzs research
ser up classic experiment in which he randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs . Half of the eggs were hatched with mother goose in natural environment and the other half were in a incubator with the first moving object they will see as Lorenz
What were the findings of the research
incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere wheras the control group hatched in the presence of the mother and followed her. When two groups were mixed the control group still followed their mother vice versa.
Lorenz identified a critical period in hatching. If imprinting doesn’t happen during that time found that chicks don’t attach to a mother figure
what did Lorenz observe about sexual imprinting
birds that imprinted on humans often later display courtship behaviour to humans
what did Harlow observe
that newborns kept in bae cages often died but usually survived if given something soft like cloth to cuddle
what was Harlow’s procedure
tested the idea that soft object serves some functions of a mother in one experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model mother. In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother whereas in second condition milk was dispensed by the cloth covered mother
What were the findings of the research
baby monkeys cuddled the cloth covered mother in preference to the plain wire and sought comfort from cloth one when frightened regardless of which dispensed milk. Contact comfort was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour
what did monkeys find about maternally deprived monkeys
severe consequences
Monkeys reared with plain wire mother were dysfunctional. However, even those reared with cloth coverd mother did not develop normal social behaviour. These deprived monkeys were more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys and bred less often. When became mothers neglected or killed their young
what did Harlow conclude about the critical period for normal development
mother figure had to be introduced to young monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form. After this time attachment was impossible to form
what is a Strength of Lorenz study
existence of support for the context of imprinting
Regolin and Vallortigara supports Lorenz’s idea of imprinting. Chicks exposed to simple shape combinations that moved . A range of shape combinations were than moved in front of them and they followed original more closely. This support the view that young animals are born with innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in a critical window
what is a Limitation
ability to generalise findings and conclusions to birds to humans
mammalian attachment system is different and more complex than to birds. For example, in mammals attachment is a two way process so not just young attached to mother but also mother attached to young
so probably not appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans
what is a Strength to Harlows research
is its important to real world application
for example has helped social workers and clinical psychologist to understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene and prevent poor outcomes. Now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in the zoo and breeding problems in the wild
Means that the value of Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but practical
what is a Limitation
generalise findings and conclusion from monkeys to humans
Rhesus monkeys are more similar to humans than Lorenzes bird and all mammals share common attachment behaviour. However the human brain and human behaviour is still more complex than monkeys
This means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings to humans
