Journal of Psychology & Behavioral Science

AQS/SBQS: Re-adapted Q-sort Procedure To Study Infant Differences In Rhesus Monkey Attachment Behaviour
Angelo Tartabini

Abstract
It can be affirmed that the Q-sorting procedure has not been applied until now to depict the individual attachment differences in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). In this research the Q-sort test procedure in which descriptive items (93 for AQS and 101 for SBQS) put in order ranging from Most Descriptive to Least Descriptive both for mothers-infants observed in two subsequent years (First Year and Second Year), was applied the way that Stony Brook University researchers Everett Waters and Kathleen Deane did for assessing individual difference relationships in children. In this study, the application of this new method to monkeys shows significant change between the First Year and the Second Year in some subjects both in AQS or SBQS. Some of infant groups' conditions (the presence of peers for play behaviour, aunts, older sisters, etc.) influenced the individual behaviour of the focus subjects (6 different composition groups kept in 6 different and not-communicating cages). In conclusion what is the advantage of using the Q-sort method in this research? Why have we not used an ordinary ethological observation method, as was done in many other studies on Attachment behaviour in rhesus monkeys? The main reason is that the Q-sorting can reveal complex details and nuances of behaviour that are impossible to obtain through ordinary ethological observation.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jpbs.v3n2a10