animal studies

• what are the two explanations for attachment?

  - evolutionary explanation

  - Learning theory explanation
• what is the learning theory explanation?

  Infants have no innate tendency to form attachments. They learn attachments because of food.
• What is the evolutionary explanation?

  The tendency to form attachments is innate. The tendency is present in both infants and the adult caregiver.
• what is evolution?


  A process whereby useful features are introduced in the species. This is driven by random mutations.
• When are features of evolution useful?

  If they help the animal survive long enough to reproduce.
• what are useful features called?

  adaptive because to survive and reproduce, animals need to be well adapted to their environment.
• what is survival of the fittest?

  The offspring who are best adapted to the environment will survive. They are the 'fittest' for that environment, so a relative not absolute term.
• what does evolutionary psychology see attachment as?

  an animal instinct. Forming an attachment may give a newborn an advantage by ensuring a good source of food and protection from harm.
• what approach is evolutionary psychology a part of?

  the biological approach
• what does the evolutionary explanation say?

  attachment is adaptive because infants who attach survive and their genes get passed onto future generations. Humans who didn't attach have died out.
• what was the ethologist Konrad Lorenz interested in?

  how young animals attach to their mothers (imprinting) and how this gives them an increased chance for survival.
• why is imprinting a type of attachment?

  It creates a special relationship with one figure who provides food and protection.
• what animal was used in Lorenz's study?

  geese - a clutch of eggs was used and randomly split into two groups.
• what were the two conditions of Lorenz's study?

  condition 1 - Lorenz was the first thing the goslings saw when they hatched in an incubator.

  Condition 2 - the goose mother was the first thing the goslings saw when they hatched in their natural environment.
• what happened to both groups of goslings after hatching?

  they were mixed up together and released.
• what were the dependent variables of Lorenz's study?

  - Lorenz observed the animals and recorded who they followed once released.

  - He also recorded the adult mating behaviour.
• What were the findings for both conditions in Lorenz's study?

  Condition 1 - they followed Lorenz like he was their mother. When they were adults, they performed mating displays on humans.

  Condition 2 - They followed the goose mother. When adults, they performed mating displays on geese.
• what did Lorenz find about the critical period for geese?

  the critical period for imprinting was just a few hours. If the goslings did not imprint within this time they never will.
• what is another case study from Lorenz that supports?

  peacocks raised in a reptile house directed courting behaviour towards reptiles.
• What support from Guiton is a strength to Lorenz's study?

  chicks imprinted on rubber gloves that were used to feed them when no mother was present. The males tried to mate with rubber gloves when adults.
• what support from Guiton contradicts Lorenz's ideas?

  Guiton found that imprinting was reversible and the birds could learn appropriate mating behaviour after spending time with their own species.
• a limitation of Lorenz's study is using animals like birds is not generalisable to humans, why is this?


  - human attachment is more emotional and complex that imprinting and attachment behaviour in birds.

  - Human attachment is two way.

  - The critical period for humans is longer and ability to form attachments may extend through life.
• Who researched into the attachment of rhesus monkeys?

  Harlow (1958)
• what happened to the 8 rhesus monkeys shortly after birth (procedure)?

  They were separated from their mothers and kept in cages and studied for 165 days. They had two surrogate mothers in the cage, one covered in cloth, one made of wire.
• what were the two conditions in Harlow's experiment?

  condition 1 - had milk available from the cloth mother.

  Condition 2- had milk available from the wire mother.
• What was the DV measurements in Harlow's experiment?

  - observed the amount of time the monkey's spent on each mother. (proximity seeking.)

  - who the monkey ran to when frightened (secure base behavior.)
• what were the findings of Harlow's experiment?

  - All 8 monkeys spent most of their time on the cloth mother (around 18 hours per day.)

  - They spent very little time on on the wire monkey, even those who were fed by the wire monkey spent on average an hour a day on her.

  - They clung to the cloth monkey when frightened and would explore a new environment when she was present.
• What was seen when Harlow continued to study the monkeys development?

  they all developed abnormally. They were frightened easily and did not make normal relationships, including sexual ones.
• What was the critical period for Harlow's monkey's

  3 months. Before then, peer relationships could replace a mother to some extent, though after this time, monkeys raised in isolation could not recover normal functioning.
• What positive theoretical values does Harlow's research have?

  - supports that ideas of comfort are more important than food.

  - evidence for a critical period.

  - evidence for effects on early attachment and later relationships. (mating and parenting.)
• what positive practical value does Harlow's research have?


  -has applications for human health and social work, telling us about the importance of contact care.

  - applications for the care of baby monkeys in zoos.
• What was the confounding variable that could makes Harlow's results invalid?

  The cloth monkey resembled a real monkey, whereas the face of the wire monkey resembled a 'robot'. Behavior could have been due to the appearance of the surrogate mother and not the food.