animal studies

• evaluate use of animals in attachment study

  over extrapolation

  ethics

  humans have more advanced cognitions

  humans spend 18 years with parents, animals spend 2 years

  studies with precocial animals do not have same need of survival as infants
• Lorenz investigated imprinting

  divided clutch of goose eggs

  half hatched with mother goose in natural environment

  other half hatched in incubator where first moving object seen was Lorenz

  groups followed whoever they saw first even when mixed
• Lorenz results

  bird species mobile at birth attach to the first moving object they see in the critical period

  if imprinting does not occur in critical period, chick does not attach to mother figure
• imprinting is an innate readiness to develop a strong attachment figure, takes place in the first few hours after birth
• critical period in birds is 12-17 hours

  if attachment does not form here, offspring do not have a mother figure
• Lorenz evaluation

  more ethically correct than using infants per cost-benefit analysis

  RWA make sure attachment forms in critical period

  Guiton supporting research when chickens imprinted on yellow glove

  extrapolation issues

  researcher bias
• Harlows monkeys

  lab experiment where monkeys raised in isolation

  2 surrogate mothers, 1 had wire mesh and feeding bottle, other made of cloth with no feeding bottle

  used stimulus to scare monkey

  measured time spent with mother when scared
• Harlow monkey results

  17-18 hours on cloth mother less than 1 hour on wire mother

  monkey seeks comfort in cloth mother

  monkey with only wire mother had diarrhoea, shows distress

  shows innate unlearned need for contact comfort
• Harlows monkeys evaluation

  standardised so high internal validity

  PA social care developed, encourage contact comfort

  ethical issues of psychological harm

  extrapolation issues