animal studies of attachment
in the 1950's the use of animal experimentation was very common (eg skinner
and his box) in comparison to using human participants
animal studies conducted by ethologists exploring the attachment relationship
between animal infants and their mothers and they related this to human
attachments and developments
one of the first ethologists was konrad lorenz
ethology - the scientific study of animals in their natural conditions to
inform on the evolution of human character and behaviour
lorenz and imprinting
lorenz 1935 (ao1)
iv
type of parent
to test this, he had to conditions:
animal studies of attachment 1
, 1. a group of eggs were randomly placed into the "natural mother" condition
(the goose condition) *this is the control condition
1. a group of eggs were randomly placed into an incubator and would have
lorenz as their caregiver *experimental condition
findings
the goslings in his care followed him everywhere, even in the presence of the
real mother
the goslings who were raised by the mother goose followed the mother around
imprinting
the process lorenz was exploring was imprinting
imprinting - the process by which mobile bird species immediately attach
to/follow the first moving object they see
the time in which this occurs depends on the bird species - some attach
immediately from birth, others can occur from a few hours after birth
if the bird did not form an attachment within a few hours of birth, the bird would
not form an attachment to a mother figure
evolutionary perspective
important for the bird to imprint onto the mother immediately as a creature that is
mobile from birth can be very vulnerable
by forming attachments, their likelihood of survival increases (as the baby stays
close to their protective parent and the parent will shield the infant from danger)
this is an adaptive mechanism - those who formed attachments quicker/early
lived longer and passed these genes on
also, if they didn't form attachments quickly, they could accidentally imprint onto
an incorrect "mother figure"
animal studies of attachment 2
in the 1950's the use of animal experimentation was very common (eg skinner
and his box) in comparison to using human participants
animal studies conducted by ethologists exploring the attachment relationship
between animal infants and their mothers and they related this to human
attachments and developments
one of the first ethologists was konrad lorenz
ethology - the scientific study of animals in their natural conditions to
inform on the evolution of human character and behaviour
lorenz and imprinting
lorenz 1935 (ao1)
iv
type of parent
to test this, he had to conditions:
animal studies of attachment 1
, 1. a group of eggs were randomly placed into the "natural mother" condition
(the goose condition) *this is the control condition
1. a group of eggs were randomly placed into an incubator and would have
lorenz as their caregiver *experimental condition
findings
the goslings in his care followed him everywhere, even in the presence of the
real mother
the goslings who were raised by the mother goose followed the mother around
imprinting
the process lorenz was exploring was imprinting
imprinting - the process by which mobile bird species immediately attach
to/follow the first moving object they see
the time in which this occurs depends on the bird species - some attach
immediately from birth, others can occur from a few hours after birth
if the bird did not form an attachment within a few hours of birth, the bird would
not form an attachment to a mother figure
evolutionary perspective
important for the bird to imprint onto the mother immediately as a creature that is
mobile from birth can be very vulnerable
by forming attachments, their likelihood of survival increases (as the baby stays
close to their protective parent and the parent will shield the infant from danger)
this is an adaptive mechanism - those who formed attachments quicker/early
lived longer and passed these genes on
also, if they didn't form attachments quickly, they could accidentally imprint onto
an incorrect "mother figure"
animal studies of attachment 2
