Lorenz & Harlow Flashcards
What can Lorenz’s research be praised for?
Practical applications
What are the findings of Lorenz’s imprinting research?
The finding that goslings had to imprint within 12-17 hours or would not imprint at all and that goslings who imprint on humans later show sexual behaviour towards humans shows the importance of the critical period in attachment for future relationships
What are the practical applications?
Psychologists can use the information in order to promote the importance of early interactions between parents and infants and hopefully reduce issues later in life meaning it is an important part of applied psychology
What can Lorenz’s research be criticised for?
Animal bias because it was conducted on goslings
Why is animal bias a problem in Lorenz’s research?
Because human attachment behaviour may be more complex than an animals as human emotions are more sophisticated towards their offspring e.g it is a two-way process, both become attached
What issues are there with Lorenz’s findings?
Issues with extrapolating the findings - limiting the extent to which Lorenz’s research can be used to explain human attachments
What other bias can Lorenz’s research be criticised for?
Researcher bias
Why does Lorenz’s research have researcher bias?
As he recorded his own observations of the birds so he may have chosen to only include findings that would support his theory of imprinting such as goslings who did not imprint on him - lowering the internal validity
What is a strength of Harlow’s research?
Practical applications
How have Harlow’s findings led to practical applications?
The finding that contact comfort is the most important in attachment has been used in the real world to highlight risk factors and find prevention for poor human attachments. They have been used by social workers and clinical psychologists in understanding that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development, allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes - important part of applied psychology
What has Harlow’s research been criticised for?
Animal bias as it used rhesus monkeys
Why is animal bias a problem in Harlow’s research?
Because human behaviour may be more complex than animal attachment as human emotions are more sophisticated towards their offspring meaning there are issues with extrapolating the findings
What issues does Harlow’s research raise?
Ethical issues due to the harm inflicted on the monkeys
What ethical issues did the monkeys encounter?
The monkeys suffered greatly as a result of Harlow’s procedures and were frightened, had emotional/social issues in later life and sometimes died.
What is the counter argument to the ethical issues in Harlow’s research?
The importance of the findings into the formation of attachments outweighed the distress caused to the monkeys as at the time there was a dominant belief that attachment was due to food rather than emotional care - important practical applications
