Animal Studies - Attachment

• How Lorenz Studied Attachment


  1. Goose eggs were randomly divided

  2. Half were hatched with the mother present (in natural environment) so she was the first moving object they saw

  3. Half were hatched in an incubator with Lorenz present so that he was the first moving object they saw

  4. The behaviour of all goslings was observed and recorded
• Findings of Lorenz

  • They would follow the figure they imprinted on around
  • Baby geese "imprinted" on whoever was the first living object they came into contact with
  • If the geese did not imprint during this critical period then they would never have healthy attachments
• Imprinting


  The process by which an animal forms an attachment to the first moving object it encounters, usually its mother
• Critical period


  A limited time window during which an animal must be exposed to certain stimuli in order for normal development to occur
• Strengths of Lorenz's research - Guiton

  • Guiton showed that chicks imprinted on the first moving object they saw, a rubber glove used to feed the chicks
  • They even performed mating rituals to the gloves
  • This suggests that imprinting is linked to later reproductive behaviour
• How Harlow and Harlow studied Attachment

  1. Infant monkeys reared with two mother surrogates

  2. Plain wire mother dispensing food, cloth-covered mother with no food

  3. Behaviour was observed and time spent with each mother was recorded

  4. Long-term effects recorded: sociability, relationship to offspring, etc
• Weaknesses of Harlow and Harlow's research:

  
  

  • One major confounding variable of this research is that the heads of the two monkeys were completely different, decreasing the validity of the research
  • The comfort monkey had by far the more realistic face- so perhaps this was why the monkey spent so much more time on it- and not because it preferred comfort over food- it just looked more like a real mother
• Harlow and Harlow's research


  • Contributed greatly to psychologists' understanding of attachment theory
  • Demonstrated the importance of comfort over food and also of stable early attachment for success in future relationships, plus the notion of a critical period of attachment
  • Has been applied by social workers to understand risk factors in childhood neglect and abuse and develop interventions for prevention
• Findings of Harlow and Harlow's research

  • Baby monkey spent 18 hrs a day on the comfort mother and 1 hour a day on the feeding mother
  • This showed that contact comfort was more important to the baby monkeys than food
• Weaknesses of Lorenz's research - Guiton

  • If imprinting occurs with an inappropriate ‘object’ (or living thing) this could have disastrous consequences in evolutionary terms
  • However it was found that over time chicks would learn to mate with other chicks so the effects of imprinting would be reversed
  • This suggests that the impact of imprinting on mating behaviour was not as serious as Lorenz believed.
• Weaknesses of Lorenz's research

  • Animals are not the same as humans- we are so much more complex given our cognitive and emotional abilities- so any results obtained must be used with caution.
  • Birds are very different from other mammals who do demonstrate emotional attachment.