Animal studies of attachment

• lorenz (1935) imprinting study

  split a batch of gosling eggs into two groups; one group remained with the mother and the other batch was incubated until hatched, Lorenz was the first living object they encountered.

  
  

  The goslings that hatched with Lorenz were found to imprint themselves on him and started following him around wherever he went.
• This process of imprinting was found to only occur if the animal was exposed to a moving object during a critical period within the first two days and was irreversible once established.
• Lorenz also found that birds who imprinted on to humans would then later in life once matured only attempt to mate with humans. Therefore imprinting has an impact on mate preferences too, also known as sexual imprinting.
• The process of imprinting is similar to attachment in humans and supports the case for attachment itself being biological in nature.

  
  

  Imprinting shows how animals are biologically programmed to form a special relationship in the same way attachment is explained to occur with a primary caregiver and infant. 
• harlow‘s study (1959)


  Rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers and raised in isolation cages and exposed to two mother figures. One was a wire mother while the other a cloth covered mother for comfort. 

  
  

  findings were that all the monkeys, despite who fed the milk to them, spent the majority of their time with the cloth mother. 
• Harlow’s findings demonstrated how infant monkeys do not necessarily develop an attachment with only the person that feeds them (feeding bond) but rather the person offering contact comfort.
• Harlow’s study also found that as the monkeys grew up they would later be seen to have some abnormal traits in behaviour.

  
  

  Motherless monkeys were socially abnormal, scared of other monkeys and also display abnormal sexual behaviour.
• Strengths of Harlow's Study

  • Humans and monkeys are similar: Green (1994) states that, on a biological level at least, all mammals have the same brain structure as humans; the only differences relates to size and the number of connections
  • Important practical applications: Harlow’s research has profound implications for childcare. Due to the importance of early experiences on long-term development, it is vital that all of children’s needs are catered for; taking care of a child’s physical needs alone is not sufficient.
• Weaknesses of Harlow's Study

  • Results cannot be generalised to humans: It is questionable whether findings and conclusions can be extrapolated and applied to complex human behaviours. It is unlikely that observations of rhesus monkeys clinging to cloth-covered wire models reflects the emotional connections and interaction human attachments involve.
  • Research is unethical: It could be argued that animals have a right not to be researched/ harmed.
• Weaknesses of Lorenz's Study

  • Results cannot be generalised to humans: It is questionable whether findings and conclusions can be extrapolated and applied to complex human behaviours. It is unlikely that observations of goslings following a researcher reflects the emotional connections and interactions human attachments involve
  • Research is unethical: The use of animals in research can be questioned on ethical grounds. It could be argued that animals have a right not to be researched/ harmed.
• Lorenz (1952)

  suggests that organisms have a biological propensity to form attachments to one single subject.
• It supports the view that having a biological basis for an attachment is adaptive as it promotes survival.

  
  

  This would explain why goslings imprint after a matter of minutes due to their increased mobility; human babies are born immobile and therefore there is less call for them to form an attachment straight away, and so, this develops later (8-9 months).
• the monkeys in isolation with the surrogate mothers all displayed dysfunctional adult behaviour, including:

  1. Being timid
  2. Unpredictable with other monkeys
  3. They had difficulty with mating
  4. The females were inadequate mothers
• Harlow (1958)

  The rhesus monkeys’ willingness to seek refuge from something offering comfort rather than food would suggest that food is not as crucial as comfort when forming a bond.

  
  

  The fact that isolated monkeys displayed long-term dysfunctional behaviour illustrates that early attachment experiences predict long-term social development.