Animal studies Flashcards
what did Lorenz (1935) study?
phenomenon of imprinting
what is imprinting?
forming an attachment on the fist moving thing they saw
what is the critical period in geese?
13-16 hours after hatching
when does imprinting happen?
during the critical period
what did Guiton (1966) say?
strength of Lorenz
leghorn chicks imprinted on yellow rubber gloves used for feeding and later tried to mate with them
what is a limitation of Lorenz?
difficult to generalise
leghorn chicks who imprinted on gloves could be reversed when spending time with their own species
what was Harlow’s (1958) study?
investigated monkeys with surrogate mothers
what monkeys were used in harlows study?
16 rhesus monkeys
what happened to monkeys with surrogate mothers?
more timid
didn’t know how to behave with other monkeys and could be aggressive
difficulty mating
females were inadequate mothers and killed offspring
how long before the effects of the surrogate mothers could be reversed?
90 days
what did the cloth mother provide?
contact comfort
what did Harlow conclude?
early maternal deprivation leads to emotional damage, but effects can be reversed if a monkeys attachment was made before the critical period
what are limitations of harlow?
ethical issues
not fully generalisable to humans
what are strengths of harlow?
helps understanding of mother-infant relationships
attachment is due to contact comfort, not whoever feeds them
shows the importance of early development
