Animal Attachment - Harlow / Lorenz

• Lorenz Gosling Imprinting (1952) - Aim


  To investigate the mechanisms of imprinting where the youngsters follow and form an attachment to the first large, moving object they meet
• Lorenz - Procedure

  Lorenz divided a clutch of goose eggs into 2 groups - half were left with their natural mother and half in an incubator with Lorenz

  Lorenz was the first living thing that the goslings saw when they hatched
• Lorenz - Findings

  Lorenz found that goslings that were incubated (and saw him first) followed him around

  They showed no recognition of their mother

  The group left with their mother followed her
• Lorenz - Conclusion

  Early attachment is irreversible and long lasting
• Lorenz - Later Research

  Lorenz found if they didn't imprint early on - they wouldn’t at all - it has to happen in a critical period

  Birds imprint on anything that moves

  Lorenz found that goslings would have sexual preferences for things similar to what they imprinted on

  Early attachment experiences has important implications for later life
• Guiton (1966)


  Chicks had a glove instead of a mother through the critical period

  Provided food and interaction

  ChIckes imprinted and followed the glove

  When they grew up, they tried to mate with gloves

  Through repeated socialisation attempts, the birds developed relationships with other birds and took on more ‘typical behaviour’
• Imprinting - an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with something (usually mother) which takes place during a specific time in development - usually the first few hours after being born / hatching
• Harlow (1958) - Aim

  To test the learning theory

  Comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys given a wire surrogate producing milk, with those given a soft cloth mother producing no milk
• Harlow (1968) - Procedure

  16 orphaned infant monkeys seperated into four conditions

  • Wire mother with milk, Cloth mother without
  • Wire mother without milk, Cloth mother with
  • Cloth mother with milk
  • Wire mother with milk

  Harlow recorded the time with either mother and how monkeys reacted to being scared
• Harlow (1958) - Findings

  Monkeys spent more time with cloth mother, as they Preffered contact with her

  When scared, they went to cloth mother

  Monkeys fed from wire mother while holding cloth mother
• Harlow (1958) - Findings

  Monkeys with only the wire mother suffered from intense stress

  They then developed abnormally - Timid, unpredictable with other monkeys, difficulty mating, bad mothers

  They monkeys were scared of other monkeys and were sexually abnormal

  They didn't cradle their own babies and struggled to behave appropriately
• Harlow (1958) - Conclusion

  Rhesus monkeys have an innate, unlearned need for contact comfort

  Attachment concerns emotional security more than food

  Contact comfort it associated with lower stress levels and willingness to explore

  Harlow proposed there was a ‘critical period’ where attachment occurs, otherwise theres negative consequences
• Strengths of animal research

  Humans share common ancestry with a lot of animals (mostly monkeys and rats)

  This results in structural and functional processes that are remarkably similar between humans and nonhumans
• Strengths of animal research

  We can better understand processes because of the precise control enabled by animal research (eg living environments, experimental conditions)

  Can therefore answer certain questions that would be difficult or impossible to do with humans - it would be unethical to manipulate upbringing for humans
• Strengths of animal research

  Animal research can help us better understand the brain and behaviour, but can also have potential for developing treatments and can inform healthcare and education
• Limitations of animal research

  We still appear to be quite different, behaviourally and emotional, from most animals (our feeling of loge and attachment may not be similar to a monkey or goose)

  Behaviourists argue that humans and animals are basically the same

  Disregards ‘The uniqueness of the human experience‘
• Limitations of animal research

  Generalising from animal research may be an oversimplification and is therefore invalid

  Depends on the type of animal and the behaviour you’re looking at
• Limitations of animal research

  Many argue that animal research is unethical and that animals should have greater protection