Attachment : Animal Studies Flashcards
What was Lorenz (1935) study?
Aim: To examine the phenomenon of imprinting in non-human animals (where the offspring follows and forms an attachment bond to the first large moving object they see after birth).
Method: Lorenz conducted an experiment where he randomly divided greylag goose eggs into two batches. One batch, the control group, was hatched naturally by the mother. The second batch, the experimental group, were placed in an incubator, with Lorenz making sure he was the first large moving object that the goslings saw after hatching. The following behaviour, of either the mother goose or Lorenz, was recorded.
Lorenz then marked the goslings so he knew in which condition they were hatched and then placed them under an upside-down box. The box was then removed and their following behaviour of the mother goose and Lorenz was recorded again.
What are the results and conclusions for Lorenz?
Results: Lorenz found that straight after birth the naturally-hatched goslings followed their mother goose, whereas the incubator-hatched goslings followed Lorenz. When the upside-down box was taken away, the naturally-hatched goslings moved immediately towards their mother, while the incubator-hatched goslings followed Lorenz, showing no attachment to their biological mother. Lorenz noted that this imprinting only occurred within a critical period of 4–25 hours after hatching. This relationship persisted over time and proved to be irreversible.
Conclusion: These results suggest that imprinting is a form of attachment that is exhibited by birds that typically leave the nest early, whereby they imprint onto the first large moving object they encounter after hatching
What is the Evaluation of Lorenz?
Since Lorenz only studied non-human animals – a sample of greylag geese – we cannot generalise the results to humans since we are unable to conclude that they would behave in exactly the same way. The attachment formation in mammals appears to be very different to that of bird species with parents, specifically mothers, showing more emotional reactions to their offspring with the added ability of being able to form attachments beyond the first few hours after birth. So, whilst some of Lorenz’s findings have greatly influenced our understanding of development and attachment formation, caution must be applied when drawing wider conclusions about the results.
What is Harlow’s study?
- Aim: To investigate the nature of attachment in baby monkeys
- Method: Harlow conducted research with 8 rhesus monkeys which were caged from infancy with wire mesh food dispensing and cloth-covered surrogate mothers, to investigate which of the two alternatives would have more attachment behaviours directed towards it.
Harlow measured the amount time that monkeys spent with each surrogate mother and the amount time that they cried for their biological mother.
What are the results and conclusions for Harlow?
Results: Harlow’s findings revealed that separated infant rhesus monkeys would show attachment behaviours towards a cloth-covered surrogate mother when frightened, rather than a food-dispensing surrogate mother. Monkeys were willing to explore a room full of novel toys when the cloth-covered monkey was present but displayed phobic responses when only the food-dispensing surrogate was present.
Conclusion: Harlow concluded that baby rhesus monkeys appear to have an innate drive to seek contact comfort from their parent suggesting that attachment is formed through an emotional need for security rather than food, which is in contrast to the learning theory explanation. This contact comfort provided by the mother is associated by a higher willingness to explore their surroundings and lower levels of stress
Who is Lorenz?
◦ Konrad Lorenz was one of the most prominent ethologists
◦ He first observed the phenomenon of imprinting when he was a child and a neighbour gave him a newly hatched
duckling that then followed him around!
◦ Lorenz’s research suggests that organisms have a biological propensity to form attachments to one single subject.
◦ Lorenz (1935) took a large clutch of goose eggs and kept them until they were about to hatch out.
◦ The goose eggs were randomly divided
◦ Half of the eggs were then placed under a goose mother, while Lorenz kept the other half beside himself for several hours.
◦ half were hatched with the mother present (in natural environment)
◦ half were hatched in an incubator with Lorenz present
◦ the behaviour of all goslings was recorded
How does Harlow support the evolutionary theory?
• Harlow supports the evolutionary theory of attachment, in that it is the sensitive response and security of the caregiver that is important (as apposed to the provision of food).
• Harlow’s research supports the importance of bonding between mother/main carer and baby and if infant suffers deprivation of mother then it can suffer emotional damage.
What is the critical period in monkeys?
• The monkeys who were not shown affection or could not cuddle with the cloth mother had trouble gaining weight thus leading researchers to believe that affection has a large impact on a child’s development.
• Only reversible if attachment could be made during a critical period.
- first month of life
What is the critical period in humans?
John Bowlby - His theory suggests that there is a critical period for developing an attachment (about 0 - 5years). If an attachment has not developed during this period, then the child will suffer from irreversible developmental consequences, such as reduced intelligence and increased aggression. (evolutionary theory)
What does innate mean
Behaviour that is natural
What is a critical period?
Window of time to form attachment
What is contact comfort?
Comfort provided by close contact/touch
What is imprinting?
Specific at-first-sight attachment for birds
What is sexual imprinting
Adult mating behaviour affected by first attachment/imprinting bond
Critical period in ducks?
Lorenz found that geese follow the first moving object they see, during a 12-17 hours critical period after hatching. This process is known as imprinting, and suggests that attachment is innate and programmed genetically.
