Attachment Lessons 09 - 12 Flashcards
Harlow (1959)
A landmark study on attachment. He called his study report ‘Origins of Love’ and sought to demonstrate that mother love (attachment) was not based on the feeding bond between mother and infant as predicted by learning theory.
Procedure of Harlow (1959)
He created two wire ‘mothers’, one wrapped in a soft cloth, one not. 8 infant Rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers at birth and studied them for 165 days. They were placed in the cage with the wire mothers. 4 of them received milk from the cloth mother, the other 4 received milk from the exposed wire mother. The time the monkeys spent with each mother was measured. Observations were made of the monkey’s responses to being frightened by a mechanical teddy bear, and how they coped with exploring a new room full of unfamiliar toys.
Findings of Harlow (1959)
All 8 monkeys spent most of their time on the soft-cloth mother, regardless of whether it fed them or not. The monkeys fed by the exposed wire mother only stayed on it long enough to get milk, and then returned to the soft cloth mother. When frightened, they all clung to the soft cloth mother and when playing with new objects, the monkeys kept one foot on it. They lacked confidence to explore a new environment unless the soft cloth mother was with them
Long-Term Effects of Harlow (1959)
Harlow studied the monkeys as they grew up. The monkeys developed abnormally, they froze or fled when approached by other monkeys. They did not show normal mating behaviour and did not cradle their babies.
If the monkeys spent time with other monkeys before 3 months, they could recover. Having more than 3 months with only a wire mother was something they could not recover from
Evaluation of Harlow (1959)
(+) Schaffer and Emerson (1964) also found that food was not necessary for attachment to form. Babies are attached to those who PLAY with them - in 39% of cases, babies were attached to someone else even though the mother fed them
(-) UNETHICAL - babies removed from mothers, deliberately scared = long term emotional harm (froze or fled when encountered with other monkeys, difficulty caring for their young)
(-) Problematic to EXTRAPOLATE findings - what applies to monkeys might not apply to humans - humans are physiologically different and have several other influences (culture, society, peers, upbringing etc.)
(-) Attachment in humans is far more COMPLEX than in monkeys - humans have several different types of attachment styles (secure, avoidant, resistant)
Lorenz (1935)
Konrad Lorenz was an ethologist (studied animal behaviour in natural environment) who wanted to investigate IMPRINTING (the instinct in several species of animals to attach to the first moving thing they see after birth)
Procedure of Lorenz (1935)
He took a clutch of Gosling (Goose) eggs and divided them into two groups. One group was left to hatch with the natural mother, the other was placed in an incubator where the first thing they saw after hatching was Lorenz. He marked the two groups to distinguish between them, and placed them all together again
Findings of Lorenz (1935)
The Goslings quickly divided themselves up, one group following the natural mother and the other following Lorenz. The incubator Goslings had no recognition of their natural mother. He found that imprinting is restricted to a very definite period of a young animal’s life (CRITICAL PERIOD). If a young animal is not exposed to a moving object during the critical period, the animal will not imprint. Animals imprint on constantly moving objects during the first two days. Lorenz had to teach the goslings how to swim and they would always return to him when he called
Long-Term Effects of Lorenz (1935)
The process is irreversible and long-lasting. One of the geese that imprinted on him, called Martina, used to sleep on his bed every night. Early imprinting had an effect on later mate preferences, called SEXUAL IMPRINTING. Animals (especially birds) will choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they were imprinted
Evaluation of Lorenz (1935)
+ Other studies - Gutton (1966) demonstrated that chickens exposed to yellow rubber gloves during feeding in their first weeks of life imprinted on the gloves
- Imprinting is MORE REVERSIBLE than previously thought. Gutton found that he could reverse the imprinting in chickens that initially try to mate with the yellow rubber gloves. After spending time with their own species, they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens
- UNETHICAL (taken from mother at birth)
- Humans are physiologically different to geese, so relationship is different

Sroufe et al. (2005)
The study was called the Minnesota Parent-Child Project.
Began in 1975
Continue to be studied today
Procedure of Sroufe et al. (2005)
The mothers’ and the childrens’ behaviours have been assessed using questionnaires and observations. For example, the mothers and children were videotaped (INTRA-OBSERVER RELIABILITY) while playing for a period of 10-15 minutes at home. The mothers were aware that they were being videotaped (possible SOCIAL DESIRABILITY BIAS). Two observers analysed the recordings (INTER-OBSERVER RELIABILITY).
Findings of Sroufe et al. (2005)
Children who were securely attached as infants:
- rated the highest for social competence
- were less socially isolated
- were more popular with their peers
- were more empathetic
Early attachment creates the INTERNAL WORKING MODEL (what relationships are, how partners behave towards each other, what to expect from a relationship). Securely attached = POSITIVE internal working model (better at forming and maintaining relationships with others)
Long-Term Effects of Sroufe et al. (2005)
If infants do not have an early attachment during the critical period, this would result in a lack of an internal working model. This could lead to attachment disorder (children have no preferred attachment figure), and an inability to interact and relate to others. This becomes evident by 5 yrs old and is usually caused by severe neglect or frequent change of caregivers
Evaluation of Sroufe et al. (2005)
(+) RELIABLE - Simpson et al. (2007) found similar results - they assessed infant attachment styles at 1 yr and found that children who were securely attached infants were rated as having higher social competence as children, and were closer to their friends aged 16
(-) DETERMINISTIC (does not take into account people’s free will to make conscious choices about their behaviour) - says early experience has a fixed effect on later relationships, therefore insecurely attached infants will have unsatisfactory relationships
(-) Lots of studies CONTRADICT the claim that early attachment affects later relationships - Tizard and Hodges (1989) found that children who had never formed attachments by 4 yrs, and were then adopted, could still form attachments with their new parents
