Attachment: Animal Studies: Lorenz & Harlow TW Flashcards
“The aim of Lorenz’s research was to measure __________ in goslings”
Imprinting
Which surrogate mother did Harlow find the monkey’s spent more time with? What did he conclude from this?
The cloth mother, suggesting that contact comfort is more important than food when forming an attachment.
Lorenz identified a critical period. How long is this?
12-17 hours after hatching
What was Harlow’s sample?
16 baby rhesus monkeys that were separated from their mothers at birth.
HOW did Lorenz measure the critical period?
By varying the time between birth and seeing a moving object so he could measure the critical period of imprinting
What method did Lorenz use?
Field experiment
In Harlow’s study, both wire and cloth mother provided food - true or false?
FALSE
What was Harlow’s aim?
To investigate whether food or comfort is more important in forming attachments
How did Lorenz divide the goose eggs?
Random allocation
Why did Harlow divide the goose eggs the way he did?
To avoid bias
What examples of long term effects were recorded by Harlow?
Sociability and relationships with future relationships. Monkeys had difficulty forming relationships, struggled to mate and were often bullied. If they did become mothers themselves, they struggled to form attachments with their offspring and some even killed them.
Harlow concluded…
Contact comfort is the most important factor when forming an attachment
How were the surrogate mothers different in Harlow’s study?
One was made of cloth which provided NO food
The other was made of wire which DID provide food
AO3: Why can Lorenz’s research be criticised for bias?
Because he recorded his OWN observations, so may have chosen to include findings that support his theory. This may decrease the internal validity of the research as it may not truly be measuring the effects of imprinting on attachment.
Harlow found the monkeys spent less time with which mother?
Wire mother
Who did the experimental group imprint upon in Lorenz’s study?
Lorenz
Who did the control group imprint upon in Lorenz’s study?
Their natural mother (goose)
What are 2 conclusions from Lorenz’s study…
- Goslings imprint on first thing they see
- There is a specific time period of 12-17 hours for attachment to take place with goslings, otherwise they will not attach at all.
Harlow’s study took place in what type of environment?
Controlled / lab setting
Lorenz’s study took place in what type of environment?
Natural environment / field experiment
AO3: BOTH Lorenz and Harlow can be criticised for what issue?
Animal bias - human attachment behaviour may be more complex than animal attachment behaviour as human emotions are more sophisticated towards their offspring than animals.
AO3: Lorenz and Harlow can be criticised for animal bias because…
They used samples of ONLY animals - geese / rhesus monkeys
AO3: Animal bias is an issue because it means…
We may not be able to extrapolate / generalise findings to humans
AO3: Harlow’s research can be praised for having…
Practical applications - the principles of the research findings that contact comfort is more important in the formation of attachment has been used in the real world to emphasise that child rearing needs go beyond caring for their physical needs.
