animal studies of attachment

Question 1

when did lorenz study imprinting

Answer 1

1952

Question 2

what was his procedure

Answer 2

• classic experiment
• randomly divided clutch of goose eggs
• 1/2 of the eggs were naturally hatched with the mother goose
• others hatched in a incubator with lorenz being the first moving object they saw

Question 3

what was lorenz finfings

Answer 3

• The incubator group followed loranz everywhere whilst the natural group followed the mother
• even when the mixed up incubator group followed loren
• identified a critical period in which imprinting happens in a few hours

Question 4

what is imprinting

Answer 4

where birds attach to and follow the first moving object they see

Question 5

lorenz and sexual imprinting

Answer 5

• observed that birds that imprinted on humans would later display courtship
• in a case study lorenz (1952) described a peacock who had imprinted on a giant tortoise, as an adult the peacock would only direct courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises

Question 6

strength of lorenz research

Answer 6

1. research support
   - study by Regolin and Vallortigara (1995) saw chicks who imprinted to moving shapes
   - a range of shape combinations were moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely
   - supports the views that young animal are born with an innate mechamism to inprint during the critical peroid

Question 7

limitation of lorenz’s research

Answer 7

1. generalizability to humans
   - mammalian attachment system is different and more complex than birds
   - in mammals attachment is a two way process
   - not appropriate to generalise lorenz’s idea to humans.

Question 8

strength of harlow’s research

Answer 8

1. real world application
   - helped social workers and clinical psychologist to understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcome (Howe 1998)
   - we now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programs
   - has practical value

Question 9

limitation if harlow’s research

Answer 9

1. Generalisability to humans
   - humans brain and behavoiur is more complex than monkeys
   - may not be appropriate to generalise harlow’s findings to humans

Question 10

what did harlow observe in contact comfort

Answer 10

newborns kept alone in a bare cage often died that usually survived if given something soft to cuddle

Question 11

what was the procedure of Harlow’s research (1958)

Answer 11

• tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother
• reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model mothers
• in one condition milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth covered mother

Question 12

what were the findings of harlow’s research

Answer 12

• baby monkeys cuddles the cloth covered mother in presence to the plain wire mother and sought comfort form the clothe one when frightened regardless of which mother dispensed milk
• showed that contact comfort was more important to the money than food when it comes to attachment

Question 13

maternally deprived monkeys as adults

Answer 13

• followed the monkey who had been deprived of a real mother into adulthood to if if early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect
• monkeys reared with plain wire mothers were the most dysfunctional
• deprived monkeys were more aggressive and less sociable and bred less often and were unskilled at mating
• when they become mothers some of the deprived monkeys neglected their young and even killed some

Question 14

what is the critical period for normal development

Answer 14

• mother figure has to be introduced to a monkey within 90 days for an attachment to forms
• after this time attachment was impossible and damage done by early deprivation becomes irreversible