AO3 Points

 

AO3 Points for Harlow and Lorenz

Harlow

Harlow's research is hard to generalise to humans because his research had been conducted on monkeys, non-human subject who develop differently and may have different attachment behaviour to humans therefore the study is biologically reductionistic.

There is a cofounding variable because the wire mothers had different shaped heads in one trials and one of the heads could've been more appealing to the monkeys therefore the study lacks internal validity.

There are moral and ethical implications to using animals in psychological research because there is long lasting harm to the animals partaking in the studies e.g. the monkeys were unable to form good social and reproductive relationships therefore it raises the question on whether it is good science.

Lorenz

There is supporting research for Lorenz's study because there has been other studies that demonstrate imprinting on animals e.g. Guiton (1966) found that chicks imprinted on yellow gloves so it supports the idea that we are born with an innate readiness to form a bond therefore the research has high external validity. 

However, there is evidence that imprinting is not irreversible like Lorenz believed because Guiton found chicks who had been imprinted on the rubber gloves were able to develop healthy sexual behaviour after spending time with their species therefore imprinting could be similar to learning as it takes place rapidly and be reserved. 

See Harlow for ethical and biological reductionistic points

Lorenz's Geese

 

Lorenz's Geese

The aims

Lorenz wanted to research the development of attachment using relatively natural conditions

The procedure

He divided a clutch of goose eggs into 2 groups. One was hatched by the mother goose and followed her around, the other was hatched in an incubator and saw Lorenz when they first hatched. That group would follow Lorenz around like he was their mother. He also placed the geese in an upturned box to test his theory of imprinting and each group of geese ran to their 'mother'. 

The findings

He found that the imprinting would only occur within a critical period (a period of time when a person is particularly sensitive and impressionable). If it does not occur within that period then it won't happen at all. Imprinting in irreversible and long lasting even when the geese were matured. It had an impact on the mate preferences as they would've wanted to mate with something similar. 

Conclusion

The study supports Bowlby's theory about attachment evolving for its survival and reproductive value. It shows imprinting is similar to the process that of an animal bonding with its primary care giver. The geese relied on Lorenz to be able to survive and it shows how important it is for an animal to develop an attachment to its primary caregiver. 

Harlow's Monkeys

 

Harlow's Monkeys

The aims

Harlow created the experiment to find out if motherly love and comfort were more important for forming attachments than food. 

The procedure

Harlow used 8 Rhesus monkeys and provided each monkey with 2 wire mothers. One had a feeding bottle attached and the other was covered with cloth for contact comfort. Each monkey was studied for 165 days and the amount of time with each mother was monitored. 

The findings 

It was found that the infant monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth mother, typically 22 hours with the cloth mother. They would only go to the mother with the feeding bottle to eat and would then go back to the cloth mother. When the monkey's were frightened, they clung to the cloth mother and used it for reassurance whenever they were playing (with one foot on the base). The contact comfort was insufficient for healthy emotional development as they later had problems with reproductive relationships. They would freeze or flee if approached by other monkeys.

Conclusion

Harlow's monkeys shows how motherly love and comfort were more important to an extent in forming attachments than food. They would spend more time with the cloth mother than with the feeding mother, as they would only go to the feeding mother when they were hungry. However, due to the isolation of the monkeys, they would later be unable to form good reproductive relationships and it shows that the interaction of the monkeys is important for the development. But if the monkeys were reintroduced to their peers before they were 3 months old, they did seem to recover.