Attachment: Animals Studies

Question 1

When was Lorenz’s geese experiment??

Answer 1

1952!

Question 2

Describe the method of Lorenz’s geese experiment!

Answer 2

• To investigate imprinting
• Half goose eggs hatched with mother
• Half hatches with Lorenz
• Both groups followed whoever they saw first when hatched
• 2 groups mixed but geese still followed the same person

Question 3

What’s imprinting??

Answer 3

instinctual phenomenon which keep new-born animal close to its parent.
An animal forming an attachment to the first moving object it sees when born.

Question 4

What were the 2 findings of Lorenz’s geese experiment??

Answer 4

• Imprinting is an innate phenomenon that ensures goslings survive (attachments are biologically programmed into species)
• Sexual imprinting = peacock hatched in tortoise enclosure, attached to giant tortoise, later tried courtship with another tortoise

Question 5

Describe the method of Harlow’s monkey experiment!

Answer 5

• Investigated the importance of contact comfort
• Reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wired mothers
• 1 mother made of plain wire (and dispensed milk)
• 1 mother covered with soft cloth

Question 6

What were 2 findings of Harlow’s monkey experiment??

Answer 6

• Maternal deprivation has severe consequences (monkeys were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled at mating and mother monkeys killed or abandoned babies)
• Critical period for attachment formation is 90 days

Question 7

Discuss the generalisability of the animal studies! (AO3)

Answer 7

Low generalisability:
- Anthropomorphic bias (human characteristics applied to non-human entities)
- Difficult to apply findings to complex human behaviours and emotional attachments

Question 8

What are the real-life applications of Harlow’s monkey experiment?? (AO3)

Answer 8

Howe (1998) -> Helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse (and intervene to prevent them).

Also important for care of captive monkeys (at zoos and breeding programmes)

Question 9

What is a weakness of Lorenz’s geese study??

Answer 9

Mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment than birds do. Mammals can form attachments any time whereas birds can’t.

Question 10

What year was Harlow’s monkey experiment??

Answer 10

1958