ANIMAL STUDIES IN ATTACHMENT - LORENZ + HARLOW
Lorenz - geese
REAL WORLD APPLICATION
ETHICAL ISSUES - MONKEYS SUFFERED GREATLY
GUILTON'S STUDY - SUGGESTED IMPRINTING ISN'T AS PERMANENT AS LORENZ BELIEVED
Harlow - monkeys
- Condition 1 = milk bottle was with the cloth mother
- Condition 2 - milk bottle was with the plain wire mother
- They found that all 8 rhesus monkeys spent most time with the cloth mother whether or not it had the feeding bottle
- Those who fed from the plain wire mother only spent a short amount of time getting the milk + returned to the cloth mother
- When frightened - all monkeys clung to the cloth mother which shows that comfort +contact are most important in developing attachment
- Animal study which focuses on demonstrating that attachment was not based on the feeding bond between mother + infant
- Experiment was conducted on 8 Rhesus monkeys + 2 wire mothers in each cage
- One mother = cloth covered mother
- One mother = plain wire mother
1/2 hatched with mother in their natural environment (control group) + the other 1/2 hatched with Lorenz in an incubator (incubator group)
Findings - incubator group followed Lorenz + control group followed their mother
Conducted an experiment where he randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs
When the two groups were mixed - incubator group followed Lorenz - aka imprinting
Bird species attach to + follow the first moving thing they see which can happen within a few hours - aka critical period which is irreversible once established
Lorenz also found evidence of sexual imprinting - means birds who imprinted on humans would later in life only attempt to mate with humans
- Lorenz findings - show us that imprinting is similar to attachment + supports the theory that attachment is innate + humans are biologically pre-programmed to form a bond with a caregiver
- Monkeys experienced long lasting effects
- E.g. poor relationships with peers
- This raises the question whether it should have been done with monkeys at all
- This study involved chickens attaching to yellow rubber gloves + tried to mate with them as adults
- At first glance. this supports the theory as it demonstrates the power of imprinting, however, with experience they believe they learned to prefer mating with chickens - which suggests that imprinting is not as permanent as Lorenz believed
- RWA, e.g. imprinting migratory birds to microlight aircrafts to teach them migratory flight paths
- This has been used to reintroduce birds to where they have become extinct from + also highlights the power of imprinting
BETTER HUMAN CARE
- However the benefits may outweigh the costs to the animals involved as it has had a significant effect on our understanding of the process of attachment + has been used to offer better human care to infants
- We now know the importance of early experiences on long-term development - it is vital that all children's needs are catered for; taking care of a child's physical needs alone is not sufficient