Attachment
Lorenz’s Imprinting Study
PROCEDURE – Lorenz randomly divided 12 goose eggs, half hatched with the mother goose in their
natural environment and half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was
Lorenz. He then mixed all goslings together to see whom they would follow. He marked the goslings
so he knew which were naturally hatched and which were incubated. Lorenz also observed birds and
their later courtship behaviour.
FINDINGS – The incubator group folowed Lorenz while the control group followed the mother.
Lorenx identified a critical period of between 4 and 25 hours, in which imprinting needs to take
place. These bonds seemed to be irreversible. If imprinting did not occurwithin that time, chicks did
not attach themselves to the mother figure. Sexual imprinting also occurs whereby the birds acquire
a template of the desirable characteristics required in a mate.
Evaluation
A strength is support for the concept of imprinting. Guiton found that chicks imprinted on
yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults. This suggests that young
animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the
critical window of development. This suggests there is an innate mechanism causing a young
animal to imprint on a moving object during the critical period.
A limitation is generalising findings and conclusions from birds to humans. The mammalian
attachment system is quite different from that in birds. For example, mammalian mothers
show more emotional attachment to their young. This means that it is not appropriate to
generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans.
A limitation is that some of Lorenz’s studies have been questioned. Guiton found that
chickens imprinted on yellow washing-up gloves tried to mate with them as adults. But with
experience they learned to mate with their own kind. This study suggests that the effects of
imprinting are not long-lasting as Lorenz believed.
Harlow’s Study
PROCEDURE – Harlow reared 16 rhesus monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’. In one conditions,
milk was dispensed by the plain wire ‘mother’. In a second condition, it was dispensed by the cloth-
covered ‘mother’. The monkeys preferences were measured. As a further measure of attachment-
like behaviour, the reactions of the monkeys to more frightening situations were observed. For
example, Harlow placed the monkeys in novel situations with novel objects. He also added a
noisemaking teddy bear to the environment. Harlow and his colleagues also continued to study the
monkeys who had been deprived of their real mother into adulthood.
FINDINGS – Baby monkeys cuddled the soft object in preference to the wire one and regardless of
which dispensed milk. This suggests that contact comfort was of more importance than food when it
came to attachment behaviour. The monkeys sought comfort from the cloth wire mother when
frightened. As adults, the monkeys that had been deprived of their real mothers suffered severe
consequences: they were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled in mating than other
monkeys. They also neglected and sometimes killed their own offspring.
Evaluation
A strength is that Harlow’s research has important practical applications. It has helped social
workers understand risk factors in child abuse and so intervene to prevent it. We also now
Lorenz’s Imprinting Study
PROCEDURE – Lorenz randomly divided 12 goose eggs, half hatched with the mother goose in their
natural environment and half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was
Lorenz. He then mixed all goslings together to see whom they would follow. He marked the goslings
so he knew which were naturally hatched and which were incubated. Lorenz also observed birds and
their later courtship behaviour.
FINDINGS – The incubator group folowed Lorenz while the control group followed the mother.
Lorenx identified a critical period of between 4 and 25 hours, in which imprinting needs to take
place. These bonds seemed to be irreversible. If imprinting did not occurwithin that time, chicks did
not attach themselves to the mother figure. Sexual imprinting also occurs whereby the birds acquire
a template of the desirable characteristics required in a mate.
Evaluation
A strength is support for the concept of imprinting. Guiton found that chicks imprinted on
yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults. This suggests that young
animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the
critical window of development. This suggests there is an innate mechanism causing a young
animal to imprint on a moving object during the critical period.
A limitation is generalising findings and conclusions from birds to humans. The mammalian
attachment system is quite different from that in birds. For example, mammalian mothers
show more emotional attachment to their young. This means that it is not appropriate to
generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans.
A limitation is that some of Lorenz’s studies have been questioned. Guiton found that
chickens imprinted on yellow washing-up gloves tried to mate with them as adults. But with
experience they learned to mate with their own kind. This study suggests that the effects of
imprinting are not long-lasting as Lorenz believed.
Harlow’s Study
PROCEDURE – Harlow reared 16 rhesus monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’. In one conditions,
milk was dispensed by the plain wire ‘mother’. In a second condition, it was dispensed by the cloth-
covered ‘mother’. The monkeys preferences were measured. As a further measure of attachment-
like behaviour, the reactions of the monkeys to more frightening situations were observed. For
example, Harlow placed the monkeys in novel situations with novel objects. He also added a
noisemaking teddy bear to the environment. Harlow and his colleagues also continued to study the
monkeys who had been deprived of their real mother into adulthood.
FINDINGS – Baby monkeys cuddled the soft object in preference to the wire one and regardless of
which dispensed milk. This suggests that contact comfort was of more importance than food when it
came to attachment behaviour. The monkeys sought comfort from the cloth wire mother when
frightened. As adults, the monkeys that had been deprived of their real mothers suffered severe
consequences: they were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled in mating than other
monkeys. They also neglected and sometimes killed their own offspring.
Evaluation
A strength is that Harlow’s research has important practical applications. It has helped social
workers understand risk factors in child abuse and so intervene to prevent it. We also now
