Lorenz conducted a study on goslings to test the hypothesis that they will imprint on and follow the first moving object they see. He found that goslings followed either him or their mother, depending on who they saw first, providing early evidence that animals form attachments to caregivers during a critical period. This research influenced later theories of attachment in humans but had limitations as it only studied one species and conclusions about permanence of imprinting were later disproven.

1. Animal studies: Lorenz & Harlow
• Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz
& Harlow.

2. Animal studies: Lorenz & Harlow
• Many animals show attachment behaviour.
• Animal studies have helped psychologists explain
why humans make attachments.
• Animal studies have also helped psychologists
understand the effects of a lack of attachment
bonds in early childhood on child development
and adult behaviour.

3. Animal studies

4. Animal studies: Lorenz
• Ethology: the study of animal behaviour.
• Konrad Lorenz was the first ethologist to
identify and explain attachment in
animals.

5. Animal studies: Lorenz
• Lorenz identified a fast and automatic process of
attachment in animals.
• This is called imprinting.
• Imprinting is an innate process that causes an animal
to make a very strong attachment to its biological
parents or another member of its species because this
is important for its survival.

6. Animal studies: Lorenz
• According to Lorenz attachment has evolved to help the
survival of vulnerable offspring.
• Attachment is hardwired.
• All animals respond to visual and behavioural cues to
take care of and protect their young.
• These are called social releasers.

7. Animal studies: ‘Baby face hypothesis’

8. Animal studies: Lorenz
• Lorenz identified that birds appeared to make an
attachment to the first moving object that they
see.
• To test the hypothesis that birds make an
attachment to the first moving object that they
see Lorenz carried out an experiment.
• Read the textbook extract ‘Imprinting – Konrad
Lorenz and complete the key study table.

9. Evaluation: strengths
• Lorenz conducted a field experiment with an
independent groups design to test the
hypothesis that Goslings will follow the first
moving object that they see.
• I.V: Whether the goslings saw Lorenz or their
mother first.
• D.V: Who they imprinted on.

10. Evaluation: strengths
• It has high ecological validity because it is a
field experiment.
• The findings are reliable because the
experiment has been repeated with the
same results.

11. Evaluation: strengths
• The experiment was important in the development of
John Bowlby’s theory of attachment in humans.
• It influenced Bowlby’s idea of a critical period in babies
forming an attachment to a caregiver.
• It influenced Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis, the idea
that early attachment has an influence on adult
relationships.

12. Evaluation: limitations
• Lorenz only investigated attachment in one
species: geese.
• This means it’s not possible to generalise the
findings of this research to other animals
including humans.
• Other animals and humans may have very
different attachment processes.

13. Evaluation: limitations
• Konrad concluded that imprinting was permanent in
birds.
• Later research found that this was not true.
• Guiton (1966) found that chickens that imprinted on an
object and attempted to mate with that object as
adults learnt to mate with members of their own
species.

14. Lorenz: evalaution
• Use your notes and read p.12 to complete
the evaluation summary table.