Animal Studies Flashcards
How did Lorenz explore the idea of imprinting?
randomly divided large clutch of goose eggs
half of eggs hatched with mother goose
other half hatched in incubator where first moving object they saw was Lorenz
What were Lorenz’s findings from his research into imprinting?
incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere, control group (born with mother) followed mother
when two groups were mixed, control group continued to follow mother and experimental group followed Lorenz
Lorenz also identified a critical period
What is meant by imprinting in terms of bird species?
bird species that are mobile from birth attach to and follow to first moving object they see
What did Lorenz conclude by the critical period?
period in which imprinting is required to take place, if they do not attach themselves in this time then they would never attach to a mother figure
What else did Lorenz find regarding imprinting?
investigated relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences
observed birds imprinted on an object would later display courtship behaviour towards that particular object
How can we evaluate Lorenz’s research into imprinting within attachment?
R: Regolin and Vallortigara- chicks exposed to simple shape combinations that moved (triangle and rectangle) range of shape combinations moved in front of them and they followed original most closely- supports view animals born with innate mechanism to imprint on first moving object present in critical window- reflects Lorenz’s predictions- provides validity
A: generalisable to humans- can we place findings and conclusions from birds to humans- mammalian attachment system distinct to and more complex than birds- example: mammalian attachment indicated as two-way process - limits generalisability and damages validity
HOWEVER
ideas of imprinting used to explain human behaviour- example: Seebach suggested computer users exhibit ‘baby duck syndrome” - attachment formed to specific object (computer system) which leads you to reject similar alternatives
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What did Harlow contribute to attachment?
importance of contact comfort
What was Harlow’s procedure into researching importance of contact comfort?
tested idea that soft object serves some of the functions of a mother
reared 16 baby rhesus monkeys with two wire model mothers in one condition milk dispensed by plain wire mother whereas in second condition milk dispensed by cloth-covered mother
What were Harlow’s findings from his research?
baby monkeys cuddled with cloth mother in preference to wire mother and sought comfort from cloth mother when frightened regardless of whether the mother dispensed milk- showed comfort more important than food
What did Harlow discover as the products of maternal deprivation in monkeys?
reared with wire-mother then most dysfunctional
reared with cloth-mother then couldn’t develop normal social behaviour
deprived monkeys more aggressive, less sociable and unskilled at mating
What did Harlow conclude as the critical period in monkeys?
mother figure had to be introduced to baby within 90 days
How can we evaluate Harlows research into monkeys?
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