Attachment Animal Studies Flashcards
Which two people carried out the studies ?
Lorenz (1935)
Harlow (1959)
Aim and Procedure?
Lorenz 1935
Findings?
Conclusions?
Aim-investigate the process of imprinting
Procedure-divided groups of gosling eggs in 2 , 1 group left with their natural mother(first thing they saw was mother) and other group were incubated(saw Lorenz first)
-recorded their behaviour
Findings-naturally hatched goslings followed mum , incubated followed Lorenz
-imprinting occured between 4 and 25 hours
-incubated goslings tried to mate with humans
Conclusions-imprinting under biological control
-behaviour in adulthood shows continuity between early att and future relationships
Aims and procedure?
Harlow 1959
Findings?
Conclusions?
Aim-test wether att concerns food or emotional security
Procedure-created a wire mother and a cloth mother
-8 monkeys studied for 165 days
-4 given food by wire mother and 4 fed by cloth mother
-recorded how much time each monkey spent with each mother and they were also made afraid to test their preference when stressed
Findings-all spent more time with cloth mother and all clung to cloth mother when scared
-monkeys didnt have normal mating behaviours , neglected their own children
Conclusions-infants attach to mother who gives comfort not food
-monkeys didnt recover after 6 months separation which is evidence for a critical period
What are the weaknesses of these studies?
There is 2!
-not possible to extrapolate to humans
L- nature and complexity of att bond is geese is different , they are precocial and we are altrical
H-humans have more complex att than monkeys , but it is closer comparison than humans and geese
-studies may be unethical
L-imprinting on human prevented them making normal relationships
H-separation caused stress and later psych harm
What is a strength of these studies?
There is 1!
+research may be justifiable
L-influenced Bowlby’s monotropic theory and critical period found to be important in adoption
H-influenced Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis
