A03

• Results cannot be generalised to humans

  • questionable whether findings and conclusions can be extrapolated and applied to complex human behaviours.
  • unlikely that observations of goslings or rhesus monkeys reflects emotional connections and interaction that characterises human attachments.
  • However, Harlow’s research supported by Schaffer and Emmerson -found that less than 50% infants attached to who fed them. (most not) and isaeli kibbutz-significant research support
• Humans and monkeys are similar....

  • Green (1994) states that, on a biological level at least, all mammals (including rhesus monkeys) have same brain structure as humans; the only differences relates to size and the number of connections
  • This suggests that animal studies can act as a useful pointer in understanding human behaviour but should always seek confirmation by looking at research with humans.
• • Some of Lorenz’s conclusions have been questioned. E.g.  Guiton et.al found that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults (as Lorenz would have predicted) Showing there is no predisposition they just imprint on anything moving the come into contact with during the critical period.

  However they were able to spend time with their own species and reverse this eventually prefering mating with other chickens. This suggests that the impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed
• • Sluckin questioned whether there actually was a critical period he kept a duckling in isolation for 5 days and it still imprinted  and concluded
  • critical period actually a sensitive period, -period best for imprinting to perform, but one beyond which attachments could still be formed.
• there were issues with the research design in Harlow's study there were Confounding variables being other ways in which the mothers differed other than the cloth . They had significantly different heads, as the ehadfs varied systematically with the IV (whether the mother had cloth on) would make it unable to draw a clear cause and effect relationship In Harlow's case, if the monkeys preferred the wire mother's head over the cloth, then the results would be misinterpreted, leading to the incorrect conclusion that contact comfort is the primary driver of attachment. therefore harlow;s study lacked control and therefore conclusions lack internal validity, possibly there is another factor that influences the development of attachmen