Paper 1 - Attachment - Animal studies Flashcards

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1
Q

Outline the procedure of Lorenz ?

A
  • Lorenz took a number of gosling eggs and divided them into 2 groups.
  • Group 1 - natural mother
  • Group 2 - incubator
    -Incubator eggs hatched and first thing they saw was Lorenz - started following him around.
  • To test effect of imprinting - Lorenz marked both groups and placed them together (Lorenz and natural mother present).
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2
Q

Outline the procedure of Harlow’s study?

A
  • two groups of infant rhesus monkeys studied for 165 days with 2 different mother figures in each group
  • group 1 - four monkeys experianced a mother covered in cloth with a milk bottle
  • group 2 - four monkeys experianced a wire mother with a milk bottle
  • measurements made of the amount of time each infant spent with each of the mothers.
  • They also measured the response of the monkeys when they are frightened by a mechanical animal.
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3
Q

Outline the findings of Lorenz ?

A
  • Group 1 - followed natural mother
  • Group 2 - followed Lorenz (no recognition of natural mother)
  • This process of imprinting is restricted to very limited time - critical period.
  • If an animal is not exposed to a moving object during his early critical period the animal will not imprint.
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4
Q

What does imprinting mean ?

A
  • Imprinting is a process similar to attachment in that it binds a young animal to a caregiver in a special relationship.
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5
Q

Outline Harlow’s findings?

A
  • All monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth covered mother (18 hours) regardless of whether is had the milk bottle.

-group 2 only spent a short amount of time getting milk before returning to the cloth mother

  • All monkeys when frightened clung to the cloth mother and when playing with certain objects monkeys would often keep one foot on the cloth covered monkey for reassurance
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6
Q

Outline Lorenz’s conclusion ?

A
  • Suggest attachment is innate - animal born with evolutionary drive to imprint/form attachment.
  • Human critical period (6 months - 2 years) / gosling critical period (12 - 17 hours)
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7
Q

Evaluate research into animal studies ?

A
  • :) Research support - Guiton exposed leghorn chicks to rubber glove - supports it being innate.
  • :( Animal extrapolation (goslings) - cannot be generalised to human attachment behaviour (more complex).
  • :( Harlow’s study is unethical - monkeys suffered greatly (more aggressive/less sociable).
  • :) Real life application for Harlow - helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse.
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8
Q

Outline Harlow’s conclusion?

A
  • Contact comfort is more important than food in forming attachment
  • Monkeys were more aggressive and less sociable - reproduce less often
    Poor parents - some kill monkey babies
    90 days critical period for an attachment to form
  • shorter critical period for animals. This is because human brains are more complex and developed and have more complex emotions
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9
Q

Evaluate research into animal studies?

A
  • :) Research support - Guiton exposed leghorn chicks to rubber glove - supports it being innate.
  • :( Animal extrapolation (goslings) - cannot be generalised to human attachment behaviour (more complex).
  • :( Harlow’s study is unethical - monkeys suffered greatly (more aggressive/less sociable).
  • :) Real life application for Harlow - helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse.
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