AQA A Level Psychology复习笔记3.2.1 Animal Studies in Attachment
Animal Studies in Attachment
What are the key animal Studies in attachment?
- There are two key studies within this area, which you need to know for this part of the course:
- Lorenz: Imprinting in Goslings
- Harlow and Harlow: Love in Infant Monkeys
- There is more detail on both of these on the revision note that follows.
- It is important to know both studies as they are both named on the specification and each can be a question in their own right.
What is ethology?
- Ethology is the study of non-human animals in order to learn more about humans
- It differs from Zoology
- Zoology is the study of animals in order to understand the animal itself
- Therefore, it is very important in a study of ethology to consider how this relates to humans and what we learn about our own species from this
Lorenz
- From Lorenz, we learn that attachment may be innate in humans: Something we are born with
- It starts in goslings practically from birth, so why not humans?
Harlow and Harlow
- From Harlow, we learn that humans do not attach based on the presence of food/nourishment
- This is a serious challenge to the Learning Theory of attachment and, once again, is supporting Bowlby and his theory of evolution
Issues with animal studies
- Can we extrapolate research from animals to humans?
- We are more complex both socially and neurologically so it may not be appropriate to do this
- It is unethical to study animals as it often involves keeping them in captivity, exposing them to conditions and phenomena that may cause them harm, if not physically then psychologically
- When an animal is studied, even in a relatively cruel-free environment, it still causes them undue stress and this could impact the findings, as well as be harmful to the animal
- For example, an animal cannot ask what will be done to them, how long it will take and if it will hurt them
- Therefore, the findings need to be treated with caution as this may be influenced by the experimental setting: Unless it is a natural study, as with Lorenz
Exam Tip
It is vital to understand that animal studies used in psychology are conducted to learn about human behaviour and not to understand the animal in question. It is true that we often cannot extrapolate (extend the application) findings from animals to humans, but think about why they are done?
Animals, like mice, are easy to control and have such short breeding and gestation periods, that we can see generational changes reasonably quickly: Certainly quicker than with humans. Try to remain detached as you discuss these issues and stick to the science. The examiner is aware of how cruel the studies often are but they do not want a whole lecture on this: Raise the issues, some detail and then move into another point.
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