ANIMAL STUDIES

ANIMAL STUDIES

1. Practical – because animals breed faster and researchers are interested in seeing results across more than one generation of animals.

2. Imprinting: An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development (critical period) If it doesnt happen in this time it probably wont happen.

3. Harlows study

   • Procedure: wire mothers with different heads. One wire mother was wrapped with cloth. 8 infant monkeys were studies over a period of 165 days. for 4 monkeys the milk bottle was on the cloth mother for the other 4 it was on the plain wire one. During that time measurements were made for the amount of time each infant spent with the 2 different mothers. Observations were also made when the infant was frightened by a mechanical teddy bear.
   • Long lasting effects: Harlow continued the study as they grew up the consequences were motherless monkeys developed abnormally even with comfort, they fled when approached by other monkeys, they didnt show any normal mating behaviour and didnt cradle their own babies.
   • Evaluation: Ethics: the study created lasting emotional harm as the monkeys later found it difficult to form relationships with their peers.
   • Findings: All 8 monkeys spent more time with the cloth monkey whether it had the feeding bottle or not Monkeys with the bottle on the wire other fed then went back to the cloth mother. When frightened all monkeys hung to the cloth mother and when playing with new objects the monkeys often kept one foot on the cloth mother seemingly for reassurance.Shows infants develop an attachment for a person offering comfort over on that offers food.
   • Evaluation: Confounding variable: Criticisms have been made as the 2 stimuls objects vary in more than on beig cloth covered and the other not. The heads were different , acting as a confounding variable because its varied systematically with the independent variable (whether the mother was cloth covered or not) Study lacks internal validity as the monkey could have preferred the head.
   • Evaluation: Generalising animal studies to humans: Human behaviour is governed by conscious decisions. Schaffer and Emerson's support this as they found infants were not attached to the person hat fed them. Animal studies can be useful pointers in understanding human behaviour but we should seek confirmation by looking at research with humans.

4. Attachment-like behaviour is similar in a range of species and we can apply to human attachments.

5. Lorenz's study

   • Procedure: Took gosling eggs and divided them into 2 groups. 1 group was left with their natural mother the other eggs were in an incubator. When the incubator eggs hatched the first living thing they saw was Lorenz and soon started following him around.Lorenz marked the groups to distinguish them when they were were put together to test imprinting, both Lorenz and the natural mother were present.
   • Findings:The goslings dived themselves, one following the natural mother the other following Lorenz. Lorenz's brood show no recognition of their natural mother. Lorenz noted imprinting is restricted to a definite period of the young animals life, the critical period. If a young animal isnt exposed to a moving object during the critical period an animal will not be able to imprint. Suggests can imprint on a persistently present moving object seen within the first 2 days. This attachment binds a young animal to its care giver to create a special bond.
   • Long lasting effects:the process is irreversible and long lasting. Lorenz said a geese that imprinted on him used to sleep on his bed every night. He also noted that early imprinting had an effect on later mate preferences called sex imprinting. animals will choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they were imprinted.
   • Evaluation: research supporting: Guiton exposed leghorn chicks to yellow rubber gloves which fed them during their first few weeks. The chicks imprinted on the gloves. Shows animals arent born with a predisposition to imprint on a specific type of object but on any moving thing present in the critical period. Guiton also found the male chicks tried to mate with the gloves showing imprinting is linked to later reproductive behaviour.
   • Evaluation: Criticisms of imprinting: It was thought that the original concept of the object imprinted was stamped irreversibly on the nervous system. However Guiton found he could reverse imprinting in the chickens who had initially tried to mate with the rubber glove, found after time spent with their own species they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour.

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