Animal studies

• ethology: a branch of research where animal behaviour is studied in a scientific objective way. The results are then generalised to human behaviour
• why would we conduct research on animals?

  • ethical reasons
  • practical reasons: animals breed faster and sometimes researchers are interested in seeing effects across generations.
• • Imprinting: Bird species that are mobile from birth attach and follow to the first moving object they saw.
  • Critical period: the time frame in which imprinting can occur - this varies depending on the species.
• Lorenz:

  • Aim: to investigate imprinting on geese
  • Method: randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs. half of them hatched with the mother in their natural environment. The other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz.
• Lorenz

  • Results: the experimental group followed Lorenz everywhere, control group followed their mother. Even when the chicks were mixed up those in the experimental group still followed Lorenz and the control group their mother.
  • Lorenz identified a critical period in which the chicks must attach. This was known as imprinting which is a form of attachment that forms early in geese
• Lorenz: sexual imprinting:

  • Peacocks were used in this study
  • They imprinted on giant tortoises
  • They showed sexual behaviours towards them
• Lorenz evaluation:

  generalising issues to Humans

  • Mammalian attachment system is different to birds, mammals are more emotional and have a two-way attachment that takes longer to form but can also be formed later in life.
  • However, it is easiest in infancy
  • Lorenz used precocial (can walk from birth) species which are very different from human infants.
• Lorenz evaluation:

  research support:

  • Chicks were exposed to similar shape combinations that moved.

  When they moved the chicks followed the one they had seen first

  • Young animals born with innate mechanism to imprint on moving objects in critical window
• lorenz evaluation

  Criticisms

  • Lorenz suggested that imprinting had a permanent effect on mating behaviour.
  • However, Guiton et al found chickens could imprint on washing up gloves but with experience came to prefer mating with other chickens, suggests imprinting is not permanent.
• Harlow:

  • Aim: to find out whether baby monkeys prefer a source of food or comfort as an attachment figure
  • Method: Reared 16 monkeys with 2 mothers ( one wire and one covered in cloth). In one condition milk was dispensed by the clothe mother, in the other the wire mother.
  • Results: baby monkeys spent most time clinging to the cloth mother using the wire one for feeding only. The cloth mother seemed to provide some comfort in new situations.
  • Conclusion: formed an attachment to figure that provided comfort than food.
• Harlow:

  When a fear stimulus was added in the cage, the monkey would cling to the cloth surrogate first regardless of which dispensed milk, before exploring the object.

  If the monkey was in the cage with wire mother only, they would remain frozen or run around wildly
• Maternally deprived monkeys as adults:

  Wire mother only monkeys had dysfunctional long-term effects

  • Cloth mother monkeys too were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled at mating
  • These monkeys who became mothers often neglect attack or kill their offspring
  • Mother figure needs to be introduced within 90 days to form an attachment or it became impossible
• Harlow evaluation:

  High theoretical value

  • Hugely informed our understanding of mother-infant attachment by understanding contact comfort and the importance of the quality of the early relationship for later social development.
  • Being fed has little impact
• harlows research:

  Practical value

  • Helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse to they can prevent it.
  • Importance of proper attachment in zoos for successful breeding programmes
• Harlows research:

  Laboratory experiment and generalisation

  • Strict control of variables so could impact the independent variable but also lacks ecological validity.
  • Generalisation issues: Monkeys are more similar to humans than geese but humans cerebral cortex is more developed, thus making us different so can't fully apply findings