attachment: animal studies into attachment Flashcards
what is imprinting?
an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with mother. it takes place during a specific time in development.
what is the lorenz study?
• divide clutch of goslings into two groups
• one group remains with mother, one group is placed in an incubator and first saw lorenz
• to test imprinting, lorenz put the geese together, they were exposed to lorenz and natural mother
what is the findings of lorenz study?
• goslings quickly divided themselves up, one group followed lorenz, other followed mother.
• lorenz group showed no recollection of their mother
what is the critical period?
the attachment has to form within a certain time following birth, with goslings the strongest tendency is between 13 and 16 hours after emerging from the egg, if no attachment has developed within 32 hours it’s unlikely any attachment will ever develop
what are the long term effects of lorenz study?
lorenz found the process was irreversible- early imprinting is also linked to later reproductive behaviour- one of the geese slept in his bed.
what is a strength of lorenz study?
leghorn chicks exposed to yellow rubber gloves in the first few weeks of life and imprinted on them.
male leghorns also tried to mate with the yellow gloves- supports lorenz critical period and how it affects reproductive behaviour
what are weaknesses of lorenz study?
imprinting may not be as long lasting as initially thought. later research: after spending time with own species the effects can be reversed. this is similar to learning- we can learn and unlearn behaviour with little conscious effort- humans more complex
what was the harlow study?
• created two wire mothers with different heads, 8 monkeys studied for 165 days
• 4 had milk on cloth mother, 4 had milk on wire mother.
• behaviour was observed: how long spent with each mother, how each react when afraid, how they behave.
what was the findings of harlow study?
• 8 monkeys spent most time with cloth mum
• spent short time with wire mum- against classical conditioning
• when frightened, went to cloth mum
• when playing, kept one foot on cloth mum,
• more willing to explore with cloth mum
what were the long term effects of harlow study?
• motherless monkeys developed abnormally
• froze or fled when introduced to other monkeys
• showed abnormal mating behaviour
• didn’t cradle their own young
could the long term effects of harlow study be reversed?
could be reversed if monkeys spent time with peers- after 3mths. but if monkeys spent more than 6mths with only wire mum the effects irreversible.
why was there low internal validity in harlow?
2 heads differed- confounding variable and could have thought cloth mums head more comfortable.
what is the strength of using non human animals?
animal behaviour is usually simpler so easier for the researcher to interpret. the variables can be isolated easily. good because it acts as a pointer to human behaviour, but difficult to generalise findings to humans.
what are the ethics of harlow study?
monkeys were scared, unable to communicate with other monkeys, they indulged in self mutilation, harlow created a state of anxiety in female monkeys which had complications once they became parents.
