AO3

• Animal Studies: Evaluation Points

  • Lorenz research support
  • Can't generalise from animals to humans
  • Ethical violations
• Animal Studies: Lorenz Research Support

  Guiton conducted research into imprinting and found that chicks can imprint on a yellow rubber glove. This shows that regardless of what it is, animals will imprint on a moving object. Animals have an innate predisposition to imprint on anything that moves, regardless whether it is their mother or not. This supports Lorenz's findings and increases the validity.
• Animal Studies: Ethical Violations

  In Harlow's research, the monkeys were deprived of forming a real attachment and receiving affection. This led to them having difficulty gaining weight and forming later relationships. This emotional damage is a violation of the ethical guideline "protection from harm". However, this ethical violation can be justified as research has provided valuable insight to human attachment and advanced our understanding.
• Animal Studies: Difficult to Generalise


  Animal studies into attachment are conducted on animals but generalised to human attachment practices. This is a limitation as humans and animals have very different motives and ways to form attachment. Monkey's in Harlow's research develop quicker than humans and are more mobile when born and Lorenz found that animals can form attachment at any time, which is different for humans who have a critical period. However, ethologists argue that findings from animal studies can be generalised because we share similar genesis.