Animal studies

• Who researched imprinting?

  Konrad Lorenz in 1952
• What was Lorenz method when studying imprinting?

  He monitored the behaviour of two groups of 6 goslings as they hatched (one in a natural environment and one incubated in a setting where Lorenz was the first moving object they saw), he found that they followed him the same as the others followed their mother, with the behaviour continuing after the groups were introduced to each other.
• What did Lorenz find?

  Lorenz found that there was a critical period of 4-25 hours after hatching during which the goslings imprinted, and the relationship persisted over a long time and proved to be irreversible.
• How did Lorenz study sexual imprinting?

  He found a case study in 1952 that showed a peacock who had been reared around giant tortoises, directed courtship behaviour towards them later in life, which supports Bowlbys internal working model theory.
• What was harlows method?

  In 1958 Harlow observed 8 baby rhesus monkeys spilt into two groups, both in the presence of two surrogate mothers (one wire and one cloth) yet the mother that dispensed milk changed.
• What did Harlow find?

  Results showed that they preferred the the cloth mother independent of weather it provided milk as they spent the most time with this one and seeked comfort from it when frightened by a loud noise, which undermines dollard and millers learning theory of attachment as it shows comfort is preferred over food when forming attachments. Harlow found that if the monkeys were returned to their mothers before 90 days the negative effects of deprivation could be reversed supporting the idea of a critical period and maternal deprivation, but if the isolation was longer than this they were unable to form any attachments, and displayed aggressive behaviour towards themselves when reunited with others, concluding that privation is permanently damaging.
• What are the strengths of Lorenzs research?

  One strength of animal research into attachment is that the findings have been highly influential in developmental psychology. E.g. Lorenz showed that imprinting is reversible suggesting that attachments are biologically driven and form within a specific time frame, which led psychologists (such as Bowlby) to develop well recognised theories of attachment that have positive real life applications by suggesting attachments takes place during a critical period and are a biological process. Furthermore in 1995 regaling and vallortigara conducted a study which supports Lorenzs theory, they exposed chicks to a simple moving shape and when presented a range of shapes they followed the original one most closely, increasing its validity.
• What are the strengths of Harlows research?

  Another strength is the controlled laboratory settings present in Harlows study. Due to this Harlow was able to control potential extraneous variables such as the monkeys being isolated directly from birth and them not being exposed to any love or attention prior to the experiment. This allowed him to establish a cause and effect relationship giving the experiment high internal validity and allowing it to be replicated. Furthermore this research has provided practical applications in situations such as breeding programmes as we now understand the importance of attachment figures.
• What are the weaknesses of Lorenzs study?

  One criticism of animal studies is the lack of generalisability as we are physiologically different meaning the results from animals don't specifically tell us anything about human attachment for example Lorenz found that birds do not need a two way process when forming attachments but is has been proven that humans do.
• What are the weaknesses of harlows study?

  However one weakness of Harlow research is its unethical nature which would prevent the study from being replicated. For example the monkeys experienced great distress and some had permanent irreversible damage which can be seen as a breach of BPS standards. This would be more justified if the cost benefit analysis outweighed the ethics however both studies also faced criticisms as neither animal species can be generalised to humans therefore don't specifically tell us anything about human attachment as we are physiologically different. Furthermore if this was not the case and we are conducting research on animals because they are similar to humans then they should be treated with such respect.