Animal studies

• Who studied 12 goslings?

  Lorenz
• How did the goslings behave when they believed that Lorenz was their mother?

  They imprinted on him and followed him everywhere, and they didn't recognise their natural mother
• What long-lasting effects of early imprinting did Lorenz find?

  It affected later mate preferences (sexual imprinting)
• What research support does Lorenz have?

  Researcher named Guiton studied chicks and he found that they imprinted on rubber gloves as that was the first thing they saw move at birth
• What limitations are there with Lorenz's study?

  • Ethical issues - separation from mother and long-term social issues
  • Extrapolation issues - humans are more complex
• Who studied rhesus monkeys?

  Harlow
• What were the two types of mother?

  Wire mother and cloth mother
• What did Harlow find?

  The monkeys chose the cloth mother every time even if the wire mother provided food. This means that monkeys go for comfort over food
• What long-lasting effects did Harlow find?

  • The monkeys became socially abnormal
  • A critical period of around 3 months for the monkeys to recover
• What were the strengths of Harlow's study?

  • Controlled observation
  • No demand characteristics
• What issues did Harlow's study have?

  • Extrapolation issues
  • Ethical issues - monkeys didn't recover
  • Confounding variables - mother's heads were different