animal studies on attachment

Question 1

briefly describe Lorenz’ study on animal attachment

Answer 1

-1935
-greylag goose eggs split into two batches
-half hatched naturally with mother, half hatched in an incubator, with Lorenz being the first moving object they saw
-places all the goslings in a box then removed it, the natural group went to mother, the test group went to Lorenz
-Lorenz said imprinting would only occur between 4-25 hours after hatching
-goslings that imprinted on Lorenz attempted to mate with humans when older
-concluded imprinting was a form of attachment in nidifugous birds

Question 2

briefly evaluate Lorenz’ study on attachment

Answer 2

-imprinting being irreversible could suggest a biological component (learned behaviours can be modified)
-the time period for imprinting influenced Bowlby’s work on the critical period
-the goslings attempting to mate with humans shows the influence on future behaviours (Bowlby incorporated this into his continuity hypothesis)
-extrapolation issues

Question 3

briefly describe Harlow’s research on attachment

Answer 3

-1959
-16 baby rhesus monkeys, 4 conditions of surrogate mothers (cloth+milk and wire+no milk, cloth+no milk and wire+milk,
cloth+milk, wire+milk) 4 in each
-amount of time spent with each mother and feeding time were recorded
-monkeys frightened with loud noises to test stress response
-also tested a larger cage for exploration
-monkeys preferred cloth mother, regardless of food production, some even stretched across for food while clinging to towel mother
-monkeys with only wire had diarrhoea (sign of stress)
-loud noise = clung to towel mother
-larger cage = explored more if towel mother was present
-shows rhesus monkeys have a need for comfort and emotional security

Question 4

briefly evaluate harlow’s research on attachment

Answer 4

-extrapolation issues
-ethical issues in separating the babies from their mums
-harlow distanced himself from Bowlby and Ainsworth’s work, he didn’t believe his work supported Bowlby’s belief of a child’s innate need for a mothers love

Question 5

what was the other research conducted by Harlow (1965)?

Answer 5

-raised newborn monkeys in total isolation for 3,6,12 or 24 months
-they showed signs of psychological disturbance (hugging themselves, rocking)
-when placed with other monkeys they avoided social interaction, sometimes attacked them
-harmed themselves, biting their own legs and arms, pulling out their hair
-no ability to mate when adults, harlow mated them to see how they would cope as parents, they neglected their babies, one chewed off its feet and fingers, another smashed baby’s head

Question 6

what research contradicts Harlow’s 1965?

Answer 6

-Harlow & Suomi (1972)
-raised 4 newborn male monkeys in total isolation for 6m, then places each one with a normally raised 3m/o female ‘therapist’ for 2h, 3x a week, gradually increasing the time spent together
-after 12m their behaviour was practically normal
-by 3y/o they were totally recovered, able to live normally, suggesting total isolation effects are reversible

Question 7

briefly evaluate animal studies on attachment

Answer 7

-Harlow’s isolation studies influenced Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis
-Sackett 2002 - believed Harlow’s work was so unethical that it caused the American animal liberation movement