🟡 Attachment - Animal Studies Flashcards
Who was Conrad Lorenz
1903-1989
Kondrad was one of the most prominent and influential ethologists. He first observed instinctive animal behaviour, specifically imprinting when he was a child. A neighbour gave him a newly hatched gosling and it began to follow him around
4 steps of method for Lorenz
1 - took a clutch of gosling eggs and didivided them into 2 groups
2 - one group left with natural mother, the other placed in incubator
3 - when incubator group hatched the first thing they saw was Lorenz
4 - when natural group hatched, first thing they saw was mother
4 factors, what Lorenz found
1 - once hatched, they follow first moving object they saw during the CRITICAL PERIOD (12-17 hours) called imprinting
2 - one followed mother and other followed Lorenz
3 - suggests that attachment is innate, internally programmed
4 - supports view that having a biological basis for an attachment is adaptive, as attaching to and being with an adult promotes survival
Imprinting
Where offspring attach to, and follow the first large moving object they see
Critical period
First 12-17 hours
6 Points about imprints
- consequences for short term survival
- occurs without feeding
- if animal has not seen a moving object within the critical period, it will not imprint
- if not attachment had developed in 32 hours, likely no attachment will be developed
- it is irreversible
- sexual imprinting (later in life mates are chosen based on imprint)
What is sexual imprinting
A young animal learns the characteristics of a describe mates by observing from a very young age
Sexual imprinting study
Peacock and tortoise
Peacock was raised in a reptile house in the zoo and first moving object it saw was a giant tortoise. As an adult, peacock would only display courtship behaviour towards the tortoise
Supporting research of sexual importing
Guiton 1966
Peacock and tortoise
Guiton 1966
Found that chicks exposed to a yellow rubber glove for feeding in first few weeks became imp oriented to gloves
Shows innate characteristic to imprint on any moving thing present in the critical period
Chicks then later found they try and mate with gloves
Positive of Lorenz’s findings
Well respected and influential findings. His work enabled other psychologists to further explore the critical period and take the area forward
2 negatives on Lorenz’s work
1 - we use animal studies to generalise humans
2 - later research has questioned some of Lorenz’s conclusions. Guiton found sexual imprinting can be reversed
Who was Harry Harlow
1905-1981
Very influential American psychologist
Best known for his animal studies, looking into maternal deprivation, caregiving and dependency
His work was ethically controversial and he predominantly conducted his experiments on rhesus monkeys
4 stages of method for Harlow
1 - 16 monkeys were separated from their mothers immediately after birth, and placed in cages with access to 2 surrogate mothers
2 - one surrogate mother was made of wire, and the other was made of wire but covered in soft cloth
3 - 8 monkeys could get milk from wire mother and 8 from cloth mother
4 - monkeys studied for 165 days
4 factors found from Harlow monkey research
1 - both groups of monkeys spent more time with cloth mother even if she had no milk
2 - infant would go to wire mother when hungry, when fed return to cloth mother
3 - if a frightening object was placed in the cage, the infant took refuge with the cloth mother
4 - for monkeys left for 90 days or more, they were aggressive and the females were inadequate mothers and for monkeys left for less than 90 days, the effects could be reversed
