Animal Studies (Attachment) Flashcards
(12 cards)
What did Lorenz test?
Imprinting - birds forming an strong attachment with their mother shortly after hatching
Lorenz Procedure
Geese eggs were randomly divided
Half were hatched by Lorenz and the others hatched by their biological mothers
Lorenz Results
The goslings he hatched imprinted on him and would continue to follow him
Lorenz Critical Period
32 hours- if a gosling did not see a large moving object to imprint on in these first few hours they’d lose their ability to imprint
Imprinting
The tendency to form an attachment to the first large moving object seen after birth
What did Harlow test?
The cupboard love theory that babies love their mothers because they feed them
Harlow Procedure
Rhesus monkeys were raised in isolation and had two surrogate mothers: one was made with wire mesh and had a feeding bottle and the other was made with cloth and had no feeding bottle
Time spent with each mother was recorded
Harlow Results
The monkeys spent most of their time clinging to the cloth surrogate and only used the wire surrogate to feed
What does Harlows research suggest?
Infant monkeys formed more of an attachment with a figure that provided comfort and protection suggesting a biological need for physical contact (contact comfort)
Positive Evaluation of Harlow
His findings on contact comfort align with Bowlbys views that infants crave comfort from their mothers attempting to form a monotropic relationship
Positive Evaluation of Lorenz
His findings on the critical period align with Bowlbys view that humans critical period was 6 to 30 months
Negative Evaluation of Animal Studies
Generalisation of animal behaviour to humans is problematic due to the varying biology and the various social and cultural experiences that inform human behaviour
