Harlows Monkeys

Question 1

What was the method for Harlows Animal testing, experiment 1?

Answer 1

Harlow constructed two surrogate mothers, one harsh ‘wire mother’ and second soft ‘towelling mother.’ A sample of baby rhesus monkeys were used across the four caged conditions:

‘Wire mother’ dispensing milk and ‘towelling mother’
with no milk.

‘Wire mother’ with no milk and ‘towelling mother’ dispensing milk.

‘Wire mother’ dispensing milk

‘Towelling mother’ dispensing milk

The amount of time the baby rhesus monkey spent with each mother was recorded. To test for mother preference during periods of stress, the monkey’s were startled with a loud noise and their responses recorded.

Question 2

What was the results for Harlows Animal testing, experiment 1?

Answer 2

When given a choice of surrogate mother, the monkeys preferred to make contact with the ‘towelling mother’ – irrespective of whether it dispensed milk.

They would stretch across to the ‘wire mother’ for food whilst clutching onto the ‘towelling mother’ for comfort.

In the ‘wire mother’ only condition, the baby monkeys showed signs of stress such as diarrhoea.

When startled by the loud noise, the baby monkeys would cling to the ‘towelling mother’

Question 3

What was the conclusions for Harlow’s Animal testing, experiment 1?

Answer 3

Harlow concluded that baby rhesus monkeys have an innate drive to seek contact comfort from their parent, suggesting that attachment is formed through an emotional need for security rather than food (in contrast to the learning theory explanation).

This contact comfort provided by the mother is associated by a higher willingness to explore their surroundings and lower levels of stress.

Question 4

What was the method for Harlow’s Animal testing, experiment 2?

Answer 4

Harlow (1958) modified his experiment and separated the infants into two groups: the towelling mother which provided no food, or the wire mother which did.

All the monkeys drank equal amounts and grew
physically at the same rate. But the similarities
ended there. Monkeys who had soft, tactile contact
with their towelling mothers behaved quite differently
than monkeys whose mothers were made out of
hard wire.

Question 5

What was the results for Harlow’s Animal testing, experiment 2?

Answer 5

The behavioural differences that Harlow observed between the monkeys who had grown up with surrogate mothers and those with normal mothers
were:

They were much more timid.

They didn’t know how to act with other monkeys.

They were easily bullied and wouldn’t stand up for
themselves.

They had difficulty with mating.

The females were inadequate mothers.

Question 6

What was the conclusions for Harlow’s Animal testing, experiment 2?

Answer 6

Monkeys reared in isolation with the surrogate
mothers all displayed dysfunctional adult
behaviour (maternal deprivation had a permanent
effect).

These behaviours were observed only in the
monkeys who were left with the surrogate mothers
for more than 90 days (critical period).

For those left less than 90 days the effects could be
reversed if placed in a normal environment

Question 7

What was the impact of Harlow’s research in the real world?

Answer 7

Harlow’s research has helped social workers to understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse such as a lack of comfort (and so intervene to prevent it).

Using animals to study attachment can benefit children that are most at risk in society, can also have later economic implications as those children are more likely to grow up to be productive members of society.

Question 8

What was the benefit of Harlow’s research with regards to other research?

Answer 8

It could be argued that the benefits of the research outweigh the costs (the suffering of the animals). For example, the research influenced the theoretical work of John Bowlby, the most important psychologist in attachment theory.

Question 9

What’s a strength of Harlow’s research? (similarities)

Answer 9

P: A strength of Harlow’s research into monkeys, is that they are similar to humans.

E: Green (1994) states that, on a biological level at least, all mammals (including rhesus monkeys) have the same brain structure as humans; the only differences relates to size and the number of connections.

C: Although evidence suggests that monkey’s are clearly much more similar to humans than Lorenz’s geese, they are not human. Psychologists disagree on the extent to which studies on non human primates can be generalised to humans.

Question 10

What’s a strength of Harlow’s research? (practical application)

Answer 10

P: A strength of Harlow’s research is that is has good practical application.

E: The insight into attachment from Harlow’s research has had important applications in a range of practical contexts. For example, it has helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse and so intervene and prevent it.

C: This also suggests that the findings are important in the care of captive monkeys; we now understand the importance of proper attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and also in breeding programmes in the wild.

Question 11

What is a weakness of Harlow’s experiments (ethics) ?

Answer 11

P: A limitation of animal studies is that there are ethical concerns. Harlow was heavily criticised for the ethics of his research on baby rhesus monkeys.

E: The use of animals in research can be questioned on ethical grounds. It could be argued that animals have a right not to be researched/ harmed. The pursuit of academic conclusions for human benefits could be seen as detrimental to non-human species.

C: There is however, the question of whether the insight obtained was sufficiently important to psychologists’ understanding of attachment that Harlow was justified in his approach.

Question 12

In what year did Harlow conduct his research into rhesus monkeys and attachment?

Answer 12

1958

Question 13

Harlow’s monkeys AO3 Points

Answer 13

Ethical worries

Practical applications

Effect of further research

Monkeys and their human similarities