Psychology - Attachment - Animal Studies

Question 1

who are the two researchers for animal studies

Answer 1

harlow

lorenz

Question 2

what did they research

Answer 2

monkeys

goslings

Question 3

one limitation of using animals to study attachments in humans

Answer 3

difference in nature and complexity of bond
problems with extrapolation to attachment in human infants what applies to non-human species may not also apply to human infants

Question 4

outline harlows procedure

Answer 4

harlow 
wire and cloth mother 
food vs nurture 
measured responses to being frightened
time spent with each mother

Question 5

outline Lorenz’s procedure

Answer 5

imprinting research with goslings
took gosling eggs and divided them into 2 groups
one left with mother one placed into an incubator
when hatched they saw lorenz and started following him around
marked both group and placed together… his group had been imprinted on him

Question 6

define imprinting

Answer 6

an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development - in the first few hours after birth/hatching.
-if it does not happen at this time it will probably not happen

Question 7

when was lorenz’s study

Answer 7

1935

Question 8

when was harlows study

Answer 8

1959

Question 9

outline how lorenz studied attachment using animals

Answer 9

• goose eggs randomly divided
• half hatched with mother present and half with lorenz present
• all of their behaviour was recorded

Question 10

outline how harlow studied attachment using animals

Answer 10

• controlled environment
• time spent with wire and cloth mothers recorded
• long term effects

Question 11

long term effects in harlows study

Answer 11

• the motherless monkeys developed abnormally
• socially abnormal, froze or fled when approached by other monkeys
• sexually abnormal, did not show normal mating behaviour and did not cradle their own babies

Question 12

long term affects in lorenz’s study

Answer 12

features of imprinting
-the process is irreversible and long lasting
-one of the goslings slept on his bed every night
-effect on later mate preferences called sexual imprinting
(animals choose to mate with a similar kind of object upon they were imprinted with)

Question 13

research to show the effects of to failure to form attachments

Answer 13

Rutters romanian orphans 
bowlbys research 
monkeys - effects on adult relationships
strengths and weaknesses 
age of child 
relevant to humans 
how far can it be generalised