Harry harlow: Harlow's Monkey Studies

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Who is Harry Harlow?

The Wire Mother Experiment

The question of how attachment forms is a complicated one. Starting in 1958, Harlow removed several Rhesus monkeys from their mothers at birth, raising them solely in a laboratory setting In order to test where childhood attachment comes from, Harlow and his team created two “mothers”- one made only of wire, the other covered in terrycloth. Half of the subjects were fed by a bottle attached to the wire “mother,” the other half fed by a bottle attached to the cloth “mother.”

However, when a frightening stimulus was introduced, all of the monkeys rushed to their cloth mothers. In fact, Harlow observed that even the monkeys that were fed by the wire mother still spent most of their time atop their cloth mother.

During the first half of the 20th century, many psychologist believed that showing affection towards children served no real purpose, merely just a sentimental gesture. many people of the day even went as far as to think that affection would only spread disease and lead to psychological problems as adults. The behaviorist movement dominated psychology and urged researchers to study only observable and measurable behaviors. However, an American psychologist, Harry Harlow, became fascinated in studying a topis that was not so easy to measure: love and dependency.

What could we do different?

• What if we changed the face on the Mothers?
• What if we gave them the chance of isolation or wire mother only?

• We could infer that if we put the same face on both mothers it could change the results by the monkey responding to both the same for comparing both nurturing and comfort to the same face.
• Based on the previous studies its shown that the monkey showed lack of bonding and preferred isolation.

Research Methods Cont.

Research Method

Research Method

This study has been highly scrutinized for the treatment of the monkeys. It has been brought to question whether this study would inhibit further emotional growth or attachments. In the Harlow and Zimmerman article it was also discussed that interpretation of fear testing is complicated by the fact that most fear evoking stimuli bring about positive explorative responses in early life. These stimuli are said to not consistently bring about flight responses until the monkeys reach an age of 50-60 days. Harlow and Zimmerman also noted their findings of visually induced fear were also found in other animals such as birds, infant humans, and chimpanzees.

Longitudinal Study

The goal of this study was to observe the subject’s reaction when placed in a cage with the wire “mother” and the cloth “mother,” then being introduced to a frightening stimulus, such as a loud robot. The subjects included a sample size of 60 infant macaque monkeys separated from their mothers between six and twelve hours after birth. Each monkey was placed into a “home” cage in which the stimuli would eventually be introduced. It is assumed that the subjects were randomly assigned to be raised with either the cloth “mother” or the wire “mother”. The laboratory setting allowed Harlow to control how much contact the subjects had to each mother throughout the study. After being placed in the home cage, Harlow introduced the subjects to the independent variable; a frightening robotic stimuli.

It shows longitudinal study methods by having the same monkeys and testing them over periods of time to see how they grow and change. The monkeys were tested in intervals of 5, 10, and 20 days of age until they were 160 days old. The longitudinal way of research shows that the results change or grow into more indepth action or thought the older the monkeys get.

Research Methods cont.

Using an observation of physiological responses, Harlow assessed the dependent variable; the subject’s response of withdrawing either the wire “mother” or the cloth “mother”. The subjects were tested at specific age intervals of 5, 10, and 20 days of age, and then every 20 days until 160 days of age. The longitudinal design is ideal for this study because it allows for a comprehensive understanding of developmental research. Although a percentage of subjects withdrew to the wire “mother,” the percent response of withdrawal towards the cloth “mother” was higher on each occasion than withdrawal towards the wire “mother.” The results also indicated that the subjects more often withdrew to the mother they were nursed on. In contrast, as the subject matured, it more often withdrew to the cloth “mother,” which could indicate preferential attachment to the cloth “mother.”

Harry harlow: Harlow's Monkey Studies