Animal studies of attachment

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  • Animal studies of attachment
    • Harlow 1950s
      • Harlow studied the factors which contributed to attachment in Rhesus monkeys
        • Monkeys were separated from their moths at birth and were placed with two types of “surrogate”
          • Cloth mother; did not provide nourishment
            • Found that the monkeys clung to cloth mother unless desperately hungry
              • Harlow concluded that nourishment was not the most important factor for an attachment as previously thought, but that comfort and security was also a factor
                • Weaknesses
                  • Ethical concerns with using animals
                • Strengths
                  • Contributed to understandingthat an attachment was not solely food-based and this changed perceptions in the scientific and psychological domain
          • Wire mother; provided nourishment
    • Lorenz 1935
      • Lorenz studied imprinting on goslings to see the effect on their attachments
        • He halved the eggs from a goose
          • Half hatched in an incubator with Lorenz
            • Imprinted on Lorenz and followed him around
              • Concluded that imprinting must occur within 13-16 hours of birth otherwise it does not occur. Imprinting is irreversible
                • Strengths
                  • Developed a basis for further theories such as Bowlby’s monotropic theory
                • Weaknesses
                  • Does not generalise to humans who do not experience imprinting in this way.
                  • Ethical issues with using animals
          • Half hatched naturally with the mother
            • Imprinted on mother and followed her around
  • Untitled
  • Harlow concluded that nourishment was not the most important factor for an attachment as previously thought, but that comfort and security was also a factor
    • Weaknesses
      • Ethical concerns with using animals
    • Strengths
      • Contributed to understandingthat an attachment was not solely food-based and this changed perceptions in the scientific and psychological domain

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