Lecture notes
A Level Psychology AQA Attachment
- Module
- Attachment
- Institution
- AQA
A* notes for AQA Psychology
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Content preview
Animal studiesLorenz’s research:
Ethologists used animals to understand mother-infant attachment.
Imprinting: Lorenz first studied imprinting when his neighbour gave him a newly hatched
duck that followed him around.
- Procedure: Division of a clutch of geese eggs. One half with mother geese in natural
environment, other half in incubator with Lorenz.
- Findings – Incubator group followed Lorenz, Controlled group followed mother geese,
even when they were mixed = imprinting = mobile birds attach to the first moving
thing they see. Critical period for imprinting to form – hours after birth
- Sexual imprinting –analysed behaviour with imprinting and adult male preferences =
birds who formed human attachments later showed courtship behaviour towards
humans. Lorenz (1952) described a peacock being born in a reptile house in a zoo and
later showing courtship behaviour towards large tortoises. Concluded that the bird
had undergone sexual imprinting.
Generalizability Lorenz’s aimed to Attachment system is = there are
to humans understand different for birds and generalisability
attachment of birds. humans = mammalian issues
Helped understand mothers show more
human development emotional love to
but hard to generalise offspring than birds +
birds to humans can form attachments at
any time
Lorenz’s People have Guiton et al (1966) = Therefore
observations questioned whether chickens imprinted on unreliable
have been imprinting has a yellow gloves and would
questioned permanent effect on try to mate with them
later mating but later on this changed
behaviour and they later learned to
mate with other
chickens.
, Harlow’s research:
Worked with rhesus monkeys, which are similar to humans.
The importance of contact comfort – Newborn babies kept in a cage alone, died unless they
were given something soft to cuddle like a cloth.
• Procedure – Harlow (1958) tested the fact that soft things substitute a mother. 16
babies, with two wired models (mothers). First monkey was wired and dispensed milk;
second monkey was covered in a cloth, no milk.
• Findings – Baby monkeys preferred the soft object one regardless of which had milk
suggests that ‘contact-comfort’ was most important compared to food.
Maternally deprived monkeys as adults – Harlow followed these monkeys who were
deprived of a maternal figure to see if this had a permanent effect in adulthood:
- Reared with wire mother = dysfunctional
- monkeys reared with soft mother = abnormal social behaviour + less sociable + more
aggressive + bred less than normal monkeys, thus being unskilled at mating. As
mothers some neglected their young and others even killed them.
The critical period for normal development – 90 days for an attachment to be formed, after
this it is irreversible.
Theoretical significance in Also showed importance
value – understanding of early attachment for
attachments = not later social relationships +
result of being fed ability to keep a
but by comfort. relationship and rear
children
Practical value practical application It also provided help for
= helped social captive monkeys and
workers understand those being bred in zoos
severity of neglect and wildlife programmes.
and abuse, therefore
intervene to protect
it
Ethical issues – Monkeys suffered suffering must also be The counter
greatly as a result of human-like. Harlow was argument is that
Harlow’s aware of the suffering he his study has had
procedures, the would have caused = significant in order
species is similar to called the wired monkeys to justify the
humans and thus we ‘ iron maidens’ – a effects
can generalise Medieval torture device
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller aemenahmed. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £5.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67163 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now