Attachment (animal studies - Harlow)

Question 1

Harlow (1959)

Answer 1

Suggested that mother was not based on feeding bonds by mother and infant not like the way the learning theory described it. He wanted to test the learning theory of attachment

Question 2

Harlow procedure -

Answer 2

• Created two wire monkeys
  -Created two comfort monkeys
  -One for each group
  -8 rhesus monkeys were divided evenly into two groups ( 4 in A and 4 in B)
  -Studied for a 165 day period
• For 4 monkeys the milk bottle was on the comfort monkey and for the other 4 monkeys the milk was on the wire monkey
  -During the time of the 165 day period it measured the amount of time each monkey spent with each mother
  -They were also observed for when being frightened for example a mechanical teddy bear.

Question 3

Harlow findings -

Answer 3

-Most of the monkeys spent most of the with the comfort mother whether or not they had the milk bottle.
-The monkeys that received food from the wire mother spent a very short time with them and then returned to the comfort mother.
-When scared all monkeys clung to the cloth mother
-Findings suggest that infants do not develop attachment due to the person who feeds them but the one who offers the most contact comfort.

Question 4

Long-lasting effects of the rhesus monkeys -

Answer 4

-Socially abnormal, froze or fled when approached by other monkeys.
-Did not show normal mating behaviour
-Also found like Lorenz that there was a critical period

Question 5

Confounding variable - limitation

Answer 5

A problem with Harlow’s study is that the two contrasting stimulus varied in more ways than being cloth-covered or not. The two heads were also very different, which acts as a confounding variable because it varied systematically with the IV. It is possible that one of the mother’s was was preferred due to having a more attractive head, therefore the study lacks internal validity.