Animal Studies in Attachment
What are the key animal Studies in attachment?
- There are two key studies within this area, which you need to know for this part of the course:
- Lorenz (1952): Imprinting in goslings
- Harlow (1958): Contact comfort in infant monkeys
- There is more detail on both of these on the revision note that follows
- It is important to know both studies as they are both named on the specification and each can be a question in their own right
What is ethology?
- Ethology is the study of non-human animals in order to learn more about humans
- It differs from zoology which is the study of animals in order to understand the animal itself
- We can use a study of ethology to ask what we can learn about our own species by considering it
Research evidence to support this topic
- Lorenz (1952) - used imprinting with goslings: he ensured that he was the first living adult that the experimental group of newborn goslings were exposed to
- This experimental group followed Lorenz around even when in the presence of their actual goose mother
- Thus, there is a critical period in which animate beings attach to another being - if this period is lost then attachment may never happen
- Harlow (1958) - baby monkeys deprived of food preferred a cloth 'mother' (made of wire mesh with a soft covering) to a milk-dispensing 'mother'
- These monkeys subsequently went on to shows signs of maternal deprivation as they had been reared without any real contact with an adult monkey e.g. they were anti-social, aggressive and had no social behaviours
- Harlow (1958) concluded that if the monkeys experienced their first 90 days of life without real adult contact then they deprivation-related damage was done
Evaluation of this research
- Lorenz (1952) - we cannot generalise these findings to human beings
- This research does support Bowlby's suggestion that a critical period is the vital window in which attachment must happen in humans
- Harlow (1958) - there are ethical issues with this study due to the high levels of distress experienced by the monkeys
- Harlow's (1958) findings have real-world applications regarding the ways in which children in care (and animals in captivity) are treated
Exam Tip
It is vital to understand that animal studies used in psychology are conducted to learn about human behaviour and not to understand the animal in question. It is true that we often cannot extrapolate (extend the application) findings from animals to humans, but think about why they are done?
Animals, like mice, are easy to control and have such short breeding and gestation periods, that we can see generational changes reasonably quickly: Certainly quicker than with humans. Try to remain detached as you discuss these issues and stick to the science. The examiner is aware of how cruel the studies often are but they do not want a whole lecture on this: Raise the issues, some detail and then move into another point.
