animal studies

Question 1

what were the animal studies in the attachment theory

Answer 1

• Harlow + Harlow
• Lorenz
• Guiton (support for Lorenz)

Question 2

what was the Harlow + Harlow animal study (AO1)

Answer 2

• in a controlled environment, infant monkeys reared with two mother surrogates
• plain wire mother dispensing food, cloth-covered mother with no food
• Behaviour was observed and time spent with each mother was recorded
• long-term effects recorded: sociability, relationship to offspring, etc

Question 3

what were the findings of the Harlow + Harlow animal experiment (AO1)

Answer 3

• The babies monkeys spent on average 18 hrs a day on the comfort mother and 1 hour on the feeding mother.
• They also ran to the comfort mother when frightened.
• This showed that contact comfort was more important to the baby monkeys than food.
• also found that there was a critical period in attachment- but this time it was 90 days as opposed to several hours.
• In further experiments they investigated the effects of maternal deprivation by rearing monkeys with only wire
  mothers into adulthood.
• These monkeys were deranged- they were aggressive and unsociable, unskilled at mating (further evidence that early attachment effects reproductive behaviour) and some
  even attacked and killed their own children.

Question 4

what are the AO3 points for Harlow and Harlow’s animal study

Answer 4

-ve: major issue with lack of standardisation
+ve: theoretical and practical value

Question 5

expand on the -ve AO3 point, major issue with lack of standardisation, for Harlow and Harlow’s animal study

Answer 5

• One major confounding variable of this research is that the heads of the two monkeys were completely different.
• This total lack of standardisation decreases 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

Question 6

expand on the +ve AO3 point, theoretical and practical value, for Harlow and Harlow’s animal study

Answer 6

• results have contributed greatly to psychologists understanding of attachment theory.
• They 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.
• In practical terms social workers have applied these theories in order to understand risk factors in childhood neglect and abuse and so develop interventions for prevention.

Question 7

what was Lorenz’s animal study?

Answer 7

• goose eggs were randomly divided
• half were hatched with the mother present (in natural environment) so she was the first moving object they saw
• half were hatched in an incubator with Lorenz present so that he was the first moving object they saw
• the behaviour of all goslings was observed and recorded

Question 8

what were the findings of Lorenz’s animal study?

Answer 8

• baby geese “imprinted” on whoever was the first living object they came into contact with (mum or Lorenz)
• They would follow the figure they imprinted on around, and if it were Lorenz, even perform mating rituals to him.
• Lorenz identified that there was a critical period in attachment of just 18 hours after birth.
• If the geese did not imprint during this critical period then they would never have healthy attachment

Question 9

what are the AO3 points for Lorenz’s animal study

Answer 9

+ve Guiton support
-ve Guiton refute
-ve extrapolation of data

Question 10

expand on the +ve AO3 point, Guiton support, for Lorenz’s animal study

Answer 10

• further support for imprinting by Guiton
• he 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 in a similar way that the geese did to Lorenz.
• This suggests that imprinting is linked to later reproductive behaviour.

Question 11

expand on the -ve AO3 point, Guiton refute, for Lorenz’s animal study

Answer 11

• If imprinting occurs with an inappropriate ‘object’
  (or living thing) this could have disastrous consequences in evolutionary terms!
• In further evaluation, however, it was found that these chicks, would, in time, learn to mate with other chicks- so the effects of imprinting could be reversed.
• This suggests that the impact of imprinting on mating behaviour was not as serious as Lorenz believed.

Question 12

expand on the -ve AO3 point, extrapolation of data, for Lorenz’s animal study

Answer 12

• We have the issue of extrapolation of data from animal 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.
• Furthermore, birds are very different from other mammals who DO demonstrate emotional attachment. This means we should be extra cautious of generalising Lorenz’s research to humans.