attachment: animal research Flashcards
why are animal studies carried out
for either practical or ethical reasons
what did Lorenz study
Investigated the relationship between
infant animals and their mothers
what did Harlow study
he Informed our understanding of
attachment
define imprinting
when bird species that are mobile from birth (like geese and duck) attach to and follow the first moving object
they see
outline Lorenz’s study
He randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs
Half the eggs were hatched with the
mother goose in their natural environment
The other half were in an incubator
where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
He found the incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere, whereas the control group followed the mother everywhere
Once hatched the two groups were mixed up and Lorenz observed who/what they followed
outline Lorenz’s results
He found the control group continued to follow the mother and the experimental group still followed Lorenz.
outline Lorenz’s research into critical periods
He varied the time between birth and seeing a moving object so he could measure the critical period for
imprinting
He found a critical period in which 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 within that time, Lorenz found that chick did not attach themselves to a mother figure
what does Lorenz’s research suggest about human attachment
From this study, it can be concluded that attachment is innate. Babies are born with the ability to be attached to their caregivers
AO3: Lorenz > lacks generalisabilty
Research from animal studies lacks generalisability
Lorenz conducted his study on geese
Mammals and animals are different > mammalian attachment system is quite different from that in birds.
For example, mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young than do birds and mammals may be able to form attachments at any time.
WEAKNESS as this means that the findings of Lorenz’s study are not appropriate and cannot be generalised to humans.
AO3: Lorenz > research to support
There is research to support Lorenz’s concept of imprinting
Regolin and Vallortigara exposed chicks to simple shape combinations that moved, such as a triangle
with a rectangle in front. A range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely
This supports the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development, as predicted by Lorenz.
Thereby increasing the validity of his study
outline Harlow’s study
Observed 16 new-born Rhesus monkeys kept alone in a cage
Reared by two wire monkeys:
1. One wire mother who dispensed milk
2. Second was covered in cloth
Harlow introduced the monkeys to a noisy mechanical teddy bear in order to frighten them.
He found when the monkeys were frightened they sought comfort from the cloth-covered mother rather than the food dispensing mother.
He also found that monkeys were willing to explore a room full of novel toys when the Cloth covered surrogate mother was present but displayed phobic responses when only the Food dispending wire surrogate mother was present
outline Harlow’s research into maternal deprivation
Harlow followed the monkeys who had been deprived of a real mother into adulthood to see if this early maternal
deprivation had a permenant effect.
The monkeys reared with wire mother only were the most dysfunctional
Behaviours included:
* Being timid
* Unpredictable with other monkeys
* They had difficulty with mating
* The females were inadequate mothers- in some cases killed their young
Harlow believes there is a critical period in which these monkeys must from an attachment otherwise they will be unable to “function normally” as adults. This period was 90 days
what does Harlow’s research tell us about human attachment
From this study, it can be concluded that human attachment is due to contact comfort and not due to feeding.
So caregiver must provide the baby with love and affection in order for an attachment to form.
AO3: Harlow > real life application
Harlow has suggested that babies have a critical period to form an attachment otherwise they will find it hard to
form one in future, leading to negative development.
This can help social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes.
We can now improve how zoos operate by making sure that animals have attachment figures present in order to develop normally.
STRENGTH as this shows how Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but also practical
AO3: Harlow > unethical
In his study, the monkeys were physically and psychologically harmed. As they were separated from their biological mother and forced to live in a cage. Harlow also tried to intentionally scare them causing psychological harm.
This is a weakness because this species is considered similar enough to humans to be able to generalise the findings which also means that their suffering was presumably quite human like.
COUNTER: Harlow suggests that this research was vital and extremely important so the benefits of the study outweigh the harm caused. As we now know attachment is not due to feeding but instead who provides comfort and love
