Attachment - 02 Animal studies of attachment Flashcards
What does Lorenz’s research suggest that organisms have?
a biological predisposition to form attachments to one single subject
Why do animals attach to their mothers from birth?
to increase their chance of survival
What animals did Lorenz use in his experiment?
Grey lag geese
What were the 2 conditions in Lorenz’s study?
1-Goslings were hatched in and incubator and Lorenz was the first moving object they saw after they hatched
2-Goslings were hatched by their mother and the mother goose was the first moving object they saw after they hatched
What did Lorenz find in his study?
-The incubator group followed Lorenz when let out of the box whereas the other group followed the mother goose.
-Lorenz’s group showed no recognition of their own mother
What did Lorenz find happened to the geese when they were adult?
-those who saw their mother first, performed mating rituals to other geese whereas Lorenz’s group performed mating displays to him and ignored other geese
What did Lorenz say the critical period was?
13-16 in which to imprint and if they never did they never would
What is imprinting?
an innate ability, in all species that are mobile after birth, to quickly recognise & follow a caregiver
Why is important for survival?
It enables protection from predators and allows the species to learn necessary skills and behaviour
What does a lack of or inappropriate imprinting lead to?
consequences for survival and making choices
Limitations of Lorenz’s research (research in birds)
-some findings have influenced our understanding of human development
-problem generalising results to humans as attachments differ between the 2 species
-for example human mothers show more emotional attachments to babies than birds do
-plus birds mobile after birth unlike human babies
-so have to be cautious when generalising to humans
Limitation of Lorenz’s research (some conclusions questioned)
-Guiton found chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults but with experience they eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens
-suggests that impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed
-so we have to question the validity of Lorenz’s conclusions
Limitation of Lorenz’s research (critical period)
-Sluckin repeated Lorenz’s study but using ducklings
-he successfully imprinted them onto himself but kept one ducking isolated beyond Lorenz’s critical period
-Found it was still possible to imprint this ducking and that the critical period was actually a sensitive period
-suggests Lorenz’s conclusions about critical period were not completely accurate and so reduces the usefulness
Which theory of attachment did Harlow criticise?
Learning theory of attachment `
What is a sensitive period?
A time period best for imprinting to occur, but attachments can still be formed beyond this period
What were the 2 types of mothers in Harlow’s experiment?
1-wire mother
2-soft towelling
What were the4 conditions of Harlow’s experiment
1-wire mother producing milk an towelling mother producing no milk
2-wire mother producing no milk and towelling mother producing milk
3-wire mother producing milk
4-towelling mother producing milk
What kind of monkeys were used in Harlow’s research?
Rhesus monkeys
What were the findings of Harlow’s study?
-preferred contact with towelling mother when given choice of surrogate mother (regardless of whether she produced milk
-monkeys with only only wire mother showed signs of distress like diarrhoea
-When frightened they clung to towelling mother
-monkeys with towelling mother explored more and used mother as safe base for exploring
What were some of the long term effects of the monkeys who had grown up with surrogate mothers?
-More timid
-Did not know how to behave and were aggressive
-Had difficulties with mating
-Some females went on to be inadequate mothers and even killed their offspring
What conclusions came from Harlow’s study?
-The monkeys have an innate and unlearned need for contact comfort suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security more than food
-infants do not develop an attachment to who feeds them but the person offering comfort
What was the critical period found in Harlow’s study?
90 days
Strength of Harlow’s study (lab setting)
-was able to control extraneous variables , the monkeys were taken away from their mothers straight after birth
-so Harlow was measuring what he intended to measure so there is high internal validity allowing cause and effect to be established
Weakness of Harlow’s study (artificial setting)
-lab setting not reflective of real life situations and may cause the monkeys to act in an artificial manner
-so may lack ecological validity
Weakness of Harlow’s study (generalisable?)
-humans differ in important ways to monkeys and so we might not be able to generalise the research
-However observations made of animal attachment behaviours are mirrored in studies of humans (Shaffer and Emerson)
-although it is questionable whether we can generalise the study can act as a useful pointer in understanding human behaviour
Weakness of Harlow’s study (unethical)
-monkeys were in distress and the effects if the study had detrimental long-lasting impacts on the monkeys and their later relationships especially with their children
-however it provides a valuable insight into development of attachment and social behaviour
