Animal studies of attachment

Who conducted a study on Gosling?

Researcher - procedure - findings

Lorenz and the goslings

Split up a clutch of geese into 2 group - 1 hatched with mother, other hatched in an incubator - first thing they saw was Lorenz

Tested imprinting by mixing both groups - incubator geese followed Lorenz, others followed their mother.

Suggested that imprinting occurs within a critical period 12-17 hrs after birth - irreversible

Investigated critical period by varying the time between birth and seeing Lorenz

Who conducted an experiment with monkey?

Researcher - procedure - findings

Harlow

To investigate where attachment is based on food or comfort

Infant monkeys were separated from their mothers and placed in a cage with 2 surrogate mothers -1. Wire mother with food . 2. Cloth covered mother with no food.

Monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth covered mother

Contact comfort is more important than food in attachment - challenged learning theory

Evaluate lorenz’ study - strength

Supports idea that attachment is biological

Supports idea that attachment is innate

Geese imprinted with first moving object regardless of who it was

Attachment behaviours are genetically programmed supporting bowlbys critical period

Reinforces importance of early attachment experiences

Evaluate Lorenz study - limitation

Generalisability problem

Findings from birds may not generalise to humans

Human attachment is more complex - emotional bonds, imprinting in geese is an automatic process to the first moving object

May not fully explain how attachment develops in human infants who rely on factors like sensitivity and emotional responsiveness

Lack’s generalisability

Evaluate Lorenz study - limitation

Imprinting may not be permanent

Later research by guiton et al

chickens imprinted to yellow washing up gloves but later learned to mate with other chickens

Imprinting can be reversible

Idea of a rigid critical period may be overstated - less applicable

Evaluate Harlow study - strength

Supports bowlby

Contradict learning theory

Monkeys spent more time with cloth mother

Showing the importance of emotion bonds rather than reward

Psychological understanding - attachment is essential for emotional development

Evaluate Harlow study - limitation

Ethical issues

caused distress to monkeys

Long term emotional and social damages - struggled to form relationships

Ethical costs

Evaluate Harlow study - limitation

Lacks internal validity

Proffered cloth mother because it was more attractive

Confounding variable