1. Attachment
Animal studies

2. Cheering up Boris!
Research into the role of the father in attachment has allowed psychologists to advise parents about their children’s development. Boris is the father of 9 month old Emily. Boris had noticed that recently when Emily gets distressed she only accepts comfort from her mother. This upsets him and leaves him feeling unimportant as a parent.
Referring to research into the role of fathers what could you tell Boris about his role in Emily’s developing attachment to show him he is needed!

3. Research shows that mothers are preferred when children are distressed but that Boris will be preferred when Emily is in a positive emotional state
Emily will find interactions with Boris more exciting and pleasurable than with her mother.
The quality of Boris’s play with Emily will be important in determining her attachment in her teens.
Research has shown that if Boris was given the opportunity to be Emily’s primary care-giver that he would be able to be as sensitive as Emily’s mother and she would be as attached to him (Field 1978) (Lamb 1987).
Emily is 9 months old so according to Schaffer’s stages has formed a specific attachment to her mother (discriminate stage) and so this would explain her wanting her mother when distressed. She is at the age where she will be forming multiple attachments (29% within a month of forming a specific attachment, 78% of children by a year old) so Emily can still be attached to Boris it will just be in a different way.
Rutter says that all attachments are equal and will be of equal importance in later life so Boris’s attachment with Emily is just as important

4. READ OVER YOUR PACK
ANIMAL STUDIES

5. Fill in the table
Without using your pack, fill in the A01 section. Aim Method Results Conclusion

6. CHECK A01
How well do you know the studies? Animal research quick off the draw questions. In pairs, answer the questions. First pair to finish wins.

7. 1. Describe in detail the method of Lorenz’s study.
2. What happened when the two groups were mixed up?
3. What period of time was the critical period and what happened if this was not met?
4. What happened later on with the Goslings who had imprinted on humans.
5. Describe in detail the method of Harlow’s research
6. Which mother did the monkeys prefer and what evidence is there of this in the way some of them fed?
7. What consequences were found for the monkey’s in Harlow’s research into adulthood?

8. Evaluation sort
In groups, cut up the evaluation points and sort out the points so they make a full evaluation point (bullet point the answers on your sheet)

9. Theoretical value-have had a profound effect on our understanding of attachment.
Difference in nature and complexity of bond-the bonds between mammals and their infants are more complex than animal bonds
Problems of extrapolation in human infants- can we generalise to humans?
Ethical issues
Imprinting is not always permanent
Practical applications
Supports evolutionary theory of attachment.

10. Activity 3: Mark the student essay and suggest improvements
inaccurate
not enough detail
muddled, not written clearly
not relevant
not grounded, not fully grounded
too much information on methodology
No wider evaluation
Repeated point

11. PEEL Point Evidence Elaborate Link
Furthermore, research conducted on animals support the evolutionary theory of attachment (Bowlby)
Evidence
The innate nature of attachment is supported by the fact that the geese in Lorenz’s study instinctively went to whoever was there at the time that they hatched.
Elaborate
The geese in Lorenz’s study didn’t learn to attach/imprint it was instinctive and so shows attachment may be innate or inbuilt.
Link
It can be argued therefore that animal studies has been useful in adding to our understanding of attachment being innate.