Attachment : Animal Studies

Question 1

Outline the procedure of Lorenz’s 1952 experiment

Answer 1

classical experiment - randomly devided clutch of goose eggs
1/2 hatched with mother goose in natural environment
1/2 hatched in incubator, first moving object seen was Lorenz

Question 2

what were the findings of Lorenz’s 1952 experiment?

Answer 2

incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere
control group hatched with mother followed her
when groups were mixed the control group still followed mum and the experimental group followed Lorenz
Example of imprinting

Question 3

Lorenz identified that there was a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place - what did he found happens if it doesn’t take place within this period?

Answer 3

chicks didn’t attach themselves to the mother figure

Question 4

outline Lorenz’s investigations into sexual imprinting

Answer 4

investigated relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences
observed that birds imprinted on a human would later display courtship behaviour to humans
case study - peacock reared in reptile house, first moving object it saw was giant tortoise
would only direct courtship behaviour towards giant tortoise as adult
this meant bird had undergone sexual imprinting

Question 5

what type of monkeys did Harlow experiment on?

Answer 5

Rhesus

Question 6

outline Harlow’s 1958 experimental procedure

Answer 6

reared 16 monkeys with 2 wire model mothers
in one condition the milk was dispensed by the plain-wired mother, in the other condition it was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother

Question 7

what were the findings of Harlows experiment?

Answer 7

monkeys sought comfort from cloth monkeys when frightened regardless of which mother dispensed milk
showed contact comfort more important to monkeys than flood when it comes to attachment behaviour

Question 8

what did Harlow conclude about monkeys who were deprived of a ‘real’ mother?

Answer 8

monkeys reared with plain-wire mothers were most dysfunctional
those reared with cloth mother also didn’t develop normal social behaviour - more aggressive, less sociable, bred less than typical and when they became mothers neglected their children

Question 9

name a strength of Lorenz’s study

Answer 9

support for concept of imprinting
Regolin and Vallortigara (1995)
exposed chicks to simple shape combinations that moved
range of shape combinations then moved in front of them + they followed the original most closely
supports view that young animals born with innate mechanism to imprint on moving objects present in critical window of development

Question 10

name a limitation of Lorenz’s study

Answer 10

ability to generalise findings to humans
mammalian attachment system more complex than birds
ex. mammals attachment two way process
means not appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans

Question 11

name a strength of Harlow’s research

Answer 11

real world applications
ex. helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be risk factor in child development, allowing them to prevent poor outcomes (Howe 1998)
means value of Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but practical

Question 12

name a limitation of Harlow’s research

Answer 12

generalisability
rhesus monkeys similar to humans and all mammals share same common attachment behaviours but human brains and behaviours are more complex than monkeys
means not appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings to humans