Attachment- Animal Studies

Question 1

Lorenz (1952)

Answer 1

P- 12 goose eggs separated into 2 groups. Six saw mother when hatched, six saw Lorenz.
F- Goslings followed the first moving object they sat within 12-18 hours of hatching (imprinting) and their first bond influenced their later mating preferences (sexual imprinting)

Question 2

Imprinting

Answer 2

The geese formed a bond with the first living (moving) object they saw

Question 3

Sexual imprinting

Answer 3

The geese’s later mating behaviour was oriented towards their attachment figure

Question 4

Irreversibility

Answer 4

Lorenz believed the first bond made could not be broken or replaced

Question 5

Critical period

Answer 5

Lorenz suggested that the first few hours (for geese) was where they must imprint or else they will never form a bond, and in the wild, they wouldn’t survive

Question 6

Strengths of Lorenz (1952)

Answer 6

Real world application- used in farming sheep where rejected lambs are given to other ewes so they form a bond and have a greater chance at survival

Supporting evidence -Guiton et al found that chickens imprinted on a yellow rubber glove (first moving thing they saw)

Question 7

Weaknesses of Lorenz (1952)

Answer 7

Opposing evidence- Guiton et al found that chickens who formed a bond with a rubber glove realised it was futile for mating and changed to prefer other chickens (challenged irreversibility)

Low generalisability- humans are different to birds so difficult to say whether attachment behaviour is the same in humans, who have more complicated emotions

Question 8

Harlow (1958)

Answer 8

A- Test the learning theory of attachment

P- 16 rhesus monkeys observed for 165 days
Used two ‘surrogate’ mothers, one dispensing milk and one cloth for comfort
Measured the time spent with each mother, and which they ran to when scared.
Also recorded long term behaviours of the monkeys

F- Baby monkeys showed a presence for the cloth mothers . Monkeys raised in isolation had long term effects like aggression and issues mating.

C- contact comfort was more important than food in attachment.

Question 9

Strengths of Harlow (1958)

Answer 9

Real life applications- showed importance of attachment and its long term effects.

Human application- the brain of monkeys and humans are more similar than humans and Hesse, so more applicable than Lorenz.

Question 10

Weaknesses of Harlow (1958)

Answer 10

Ethical issues- caused suffering in infant monkeys, if they are similar to humans do the outcomes outweigh the cost?

Low internal validity- faces of the mothers were different so one may have been more like a real monkey mother.