evaluations of animal studies

Question 1

what is one strength of Lorenz’s research?

Answer 1

-existence of support for the concept of imprinting.
.a study by lucia and girorgio supports lorenzs idea of imprinting
.chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved, such as a triangle with a rectangle in front
.range of shape combinations, were then moved, in front of them and they followed the most original most closely
.this supports the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development

Question 2

what is a limitation of Lorenz’s research?

Answer 2

-the ability to generalise findings and conclusions from birds to humans
.the mamamlian attachment system, is quite different and more complex that that in birds
.furthermore, mammals attachment is a 2 way process, so its not only the young who become attached to their mothers, but also the mamalian mothers whos an emotional attachment attachment to their young. this means it will probably not be appropriate, to generelise, lorenzs ideas to humans

Question 3

what is a strength of harlows research?

Answer 3

-important real world applications
.eg it has helped social workers, and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience could affect a childs development, which allows them to intervene and prevent poor outcomes (HOWE)
-we also now understand, he importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos
-this means harlows research isnt just only theoretical but also practical

Question 4

what is one limitation of harlows research?

Answer 4

• the ability to generalise harlows findings and conclusions from monkeys to human
  -infant monkeys in harlows research are much more similar to humans than lorenzs birds and all mammals share some common attachment behaviours
  -however, the human brain and human behaviour is much more complex than most monkeys
  .this means that it may not be appropiate tp generalise harlows findings to humans