Attachment & Love

Question 1

What did O’Conner and Rutter (2000) find in their study on adopted Romanian children in the UK?

Answer 1

Attachment disorder symptoms were highest in children that were adopted 24-42 months after they were born.

Question 2

After Liu et. al (1997) observed licking and grooming (LG) and ‘arched back’ nursing (ABN) in rat dams, what were the responses of the adult pups when they were retrained?

Answer 2

Rats that came from mothes with lower levels of maternal care showed higher stress levels than those from higher levels of maternal care.

Question 3

What are the three different types of genes encoding serotonin transporters that human can have?

Answer 3

Short Gene (ss)
Long Gene (sL)
Two Long Genes (LL)

Question 4

What does the creation of short (ss) and long (sL) serotonin transporter genes rely on?

Answer 4

The effectiveness of the serotonin transporter in removing serotonin from the cell.

Question 5

Which gene does antidepressant drugs target?

Answer 5

Serotonin transporters

Question 6

What was Kaufman et. al (2004)’s findings on the effect of serotonin transporters on depression?

Answer 6

The short copies of serotonin transporters showed higher levels of depression. It was concluded that the interactions between genes and the environment determine mood levels, rather than one factor separately.

Question 7

Which hormone is responsible for maternal behaviour in female sea turtles?

Answer 7

Vasotocin

Question 8

What are the maternal hormonal differences between female and male mammals?

Answer 8

The maternal behaviour of female mammals is influenced by the hormone oxytocin, while the maternal behaviour of male mammals is influenced by the hormone Vasopressin

Question 9

In Marlin et. al (2015)’s experiment on female rats, why is it that virgin rats do not hear the pups’ distress call?

Answer 9

The lack of oxytocin in their blood insensitises the responses of the auditory cortex neurons in virgin females, resulting in the virgin female rats being unable to hear the pups’ calls.

Question 10

What did Kozorovitskiy (2006) find in his experiment on male mammoset paternal behaviour?

Answer 10

Increase in the hormone Vasopressin is linked to the amount of time the monkey shows paternal behaviour for both experienced and first-time monkeys.

Question 11

What was Watson’s solution to attachment disorder that was proven wrong?

Answer 11

Parents should show little affections towards their children to reduce their dependence on them.

Question 12

Explain what Harlow’s Cloth Monkey experiment showed about monkey nursing.

Answer 12

Nursing isn’t as important as contact comfort for infant monkey attachment.

Question 13

What are the characteristics of the three types of attachment?

Answer 13

Secure - infant seeks close contact and friendly greets parent
Avoidant - infant avoids parent
Resistant/Ambivalent - infant passively/actively shows hostility towards parent

Question 14

How do the three types of attachment influence future adult behaviour?

Answer 14

Secure Adults find it easy to create and maintain close relationships.
Avoidant Adults find it difficult to trust others, cannot depend on other people, and feel uncomfortable being close to others.
Anxious/Ambivalent Adults worry that their partner doesn’t love them, and want to stay as close as possible to their partner.

Question 15

Explain the difference between monogamous and polygamous pair bonds.

Answer 15

Monogamous pair bonds mate and form a pair bond for life.

Polygamous pair bonds mate temporarily and go their separate ways.

Question 16

State the different mating behaviours of the Prairie and Montane/meadow voles.

Answer 16

Prairie voles form a stable monogamous pair bond while Montane voles mate and then almost instantly seperate from the partner.

Question 17

How did the different voles behave after they mated in Insel and Young (2001)’s experiment?

Answer 17

Montane voles were most likely to spend time in a neutral chamber after mating with their partner.
Prairire voles chose to spend more time with their partner after mating.

Question 18

How did blocking oxytocin in the nucleus accumbens influence the mating preference for the female Prairie voles?

Answer 18

The mating preference of the female Prairie voles was reversed. Prairie voles preferred spending time with strangers after mating.

Question 19

How would the increase of Vasopressin in male meadow voles alter their mating preference?

Answer 19

Increasing vasopressin receptors in male meadow voles increases their pair bond, resulting in more time spent with their partner.

Question 20

What causes the different mating strategies in animals?

Answer 20

Different levels of each hormone and their receptors influence the mating behaviour of animals.

Question 21

Define filial attachment.

Answer 21

The relationship between parents and children within a family.

Question 22

What are examples of motivated behaviours?

Answer 22

Drug use
Attachment
Overeating

Question 23

What is the influence of maternal visualisation on duckling behaviour?

Answer 23

Seeing a milk bottle calms duckling behaviour, and moving the milk bottle away from sight has the duckling emit distressed vocalisations.

Question 24

What is the Opponent Process Model for attachment?

Answer 24

A Process - reward produced by contact with a loved one

B Process - increases over time in absence of A process

Question 25

What is the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)?

Answer 25

It is located in the midbrain, adjacent to the substantia niagra. It is characterized by its dopaminergic neurons, which project from the VTA throughout the brain.

Question 26

Explain what the ventral tegmental area is best known as.

Answer 26

The VTA is a reward circuit that exerts dopamine in response to rewarding stimuli.

Question 27

In which situations does the VTA commonly activate, as shown in various research?

Answer 27

It emits during heroin injection (Sell et al, 2000), during ejaculation (Hostege et al, 2003) and when looking at pictures of a loved one (Bartels & Zeki, 2004).

Question 28

What is the critical role of dopamine for animals?

Answer 28

It increases attachment relationships and addiction.