Attachment : Animal Studies Flashcards
Outline Lorenzes research.
> Lorenz aimed to study the phenomenon of imprinting in geese.
Imprinting refers to when young animal narrows its social preferences to an object (typically a parent) as a result of exposure to that object.
In Lorenzes original study, he randomly divided a group of goose eggs. Half the eggs were hatched with their mother and half hatched in an incubator where the first thing the goslings saw was Lorenz.
Findings : Lorenz found that the goslings followed whoever they hatched with. Even when Lorenz mixed the goslings together, they continued to follow whoever they had seen first.
In an additional study, Lorenz found that if he delayed the time at which the goslings saw a moving object beyond 13-16 hours then the birds would not follow the moving object. This led him to conclude that there exists a critical period during which imprinting can occur.
Outline Harlows Research.
> Harlow aimed to investigate the relative importance of feeding or ‘contact comfort’ to the development of attachment.
Harlows method involved raising infant rhesus monkeys in laboratory with two ‘surrogate mothers’. The surrogates were both wire frames shaped like adult monkeys, but one of them was covered with a soft cloth. Harlow varied which of the surrogates dispensed milk and then observed which surrogate the infants would cling to.
Harlow found that regardless of which surrogate dispensed milk, the infant monkeys preferred to stay close to the cloth surrogate, especially when they were frightened.
Conclusions : Harlow concluded that contact comfort was more important to development of attachment than food.
Harlow conducted further studies. Such as observing significant long term problems in the infants raised by surrogates. They experienced difficulties socialising and making, and if they did become parents, they tended to neglect and sometimes even attack their young.
Harlow concluded this showed the necessity of contact comfort for healthy psychological development.
In further research, Harlow raised monkeys in complete social isolation for varying lengths of time. He found that monkeys raised in complete isolation always experiences some level of social impairment but for those raised in isolation for more than 90 days, the social impairments were irreversible.
What is a Strength of animal studies?
A strength of animal studies is their implications for human attachment. John Bowlby, a pioneering researcher whose ideas influenced modern understanding of attachment, was inspired by the conclusions of Lorenz and Harlow. Lorenz’s research provided inspiration for Bowlby’s claim that humans have an innate need to attach and that there is a critical period in which this attachment must form. Harlow’s research inspired Bowlby to argue that early attachment issues can have a profound impact on later development. Moreover, Harlow’s findings provided evidence for the importance of contact-comfort in childcare and this led to reforms in the way children, especially in institutions were cared for. Thus, these animal studies were significant as they contributed to our understanding of human attachment.
What is a limitation of animal studies?
There are issues with generalising findings on attachment from animal studies to humans. Lorenz’s and Harlow’s research was conducted on animals which are very different from humans, physiologically and behaviourally. For example, clinging is a matter of survival in young rhesus monkeys, but not in humans, whilst freshly hatched goslings are far more physically capable than newborn humans. These differences may be significant enough to mean that generalising findings from animal studies to humans may be impossible. However, the extent of the problem with generalising does depend on the type of animal being study. Rhesus monkeys share 93% of their genes with humans and mammals tend to have the same brain structures as humans. Geese, in contrast are more closely related to reptiles than mammals, thus less in common. Therefore, there can be issues with generalisation from animals to humans.
What is a Limitation with animal studies?
There are ethical issues with animals studies into attachment. The obvious ethical issue is a failure to protect the animal subjects from harm. Harlow’s subjects were clearly distressed and long term consequences in their ability to socialise, mate and parent. Moreover, since animals lack language, they are unable to give their consent or exercise their right to withdraw. However, it could be argued that this animal research was justified as the level of harm would have made similar research on humans ethically impossible, and the harm inflicted on the animals was justified of the benefits of increasing our understanding of human attachment. Finally, some good cause came of these studies as since Harlow’s research was so unethical, many guidelines for animal research were put in place after. The animal liberation movement was implemented which uses tactics to free animals from laboratories.
