AO1

• What was Lorenz's research procedure on imprinting?

  • Goose eggs
  • [control] 1/2 hatched with mother goose
  • [experimental] 1/2 hatched in incubator
• What was Lorenz's research findings on imprinting?

  • Control=attach to mother goose
  • Experimental=attach to Lorenz = first moving thing seen [imprinting]
• What did Lorenz find on imprinting's 'Critical Period'?

  • 13 – 16 hours after hatching
  • No imprinting = no future attachments
  • Permanent effect
• What did Lorenz find about the relationship between imprinting and adult male preferences?

  • Birds imprinted on humans = courtship towards humans
  • Case study: Peacock raised in reptile house = courtship towards giant tortoises.
• What was Harlow's research procedure on contact comfort?

  • Soft object serves some of the functions of a mother
  • Reared 16 Rhesus monkeys with two wire ‘mothers’ following two conditions:
  • CONDITION 1: milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother
  • CONDITION 2: milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother
• What was Harlow's research findings on contact comfort?

  • Baby monkey’s cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother
  • Sought comfort from the cloth covered mother when frightened by a noisy mechanical teddy-bear, regardless of which mother dispensed milk
• What was Harlow's research conclusions on contact comfort?


  • Contact comfort was more important to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour
  • Critical period for baby monkeys is 90 days for an attachment to form - if not, there was permanent damage
• What did Harlow's further study of maternally deprived monkeys find?

  • Monkey’s reared with plain-wire mothers were extremely dysfunctional
  • Monkey’s reared with cloth-covered mothers did not develop normal social behaviour
  • Participant monkey’s were aggressive and less sociable
  • Bred less and unskilled at mating
  • Inadequate mothers to their own young (attacked/killed their children)