Harlow: Animal Studies

Question 1

When was Harlow’s study carried out?

Answer 1

1959

Question 2

What was the aim of Harlow’s study?

Answer 2

To examine the extent to which contact comfort and food influences attachment behaviour in baby rhesus monkeys

Question 3

What was the method of Harlow’s study?

Answer 3

• Harlow constructed 2 surrogate mothers: a ‘wire mother’ and a soft ‘towelling mother’
• 16 baby rhesus monkeys were placed across 4 aged conditions
  1. Wire mother dispensing milk, towelling mother with no milk
  2. Wire mother with no milk, towelling mother dispensing milk
  3. Wire mother dispensing milk
  4. Towelling mother dispensing milk
• The amount of time each monkey spent with each mother and amount of time they spent feeding was recorded
• A loud noise was also activated to test for mother preference during periods of stress
• A larger cage was used in some conditions to measure degree of exploration

Question 4

What were the results of Harlow’s study?

Answer 4

• When monkeys were given a choice, they preferred to make contact with the towelling mother, regardless of whether she dispensed milk
• The baby monkeys with only the wire mother showed signs of stress
• When startled by the loud noise, monkeys would always cling to the towelling mother
• When given large cage conditions, greater exploration was found for the monkeys with the towelling mother

Question 5

AO3 Harlow: important practical applications ✅

Answer 5

P: a strength is that Harlow’s research has important practical applications
E: it has helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse, and so intervene to prevent it (Howe, 1988)
E: we also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programs in the wild
L: the usefulness of his research increases its validity

Question 6

AO3 Harlow: lack of control of the surrogate mothers ❌

Answer 6

P: one criticism of Harlows research is the lack of control of the two surrogate mothers
E: the two wire, monkeys varied in more ways than just being cloth-covered or not, and the two heads were very different. One possibility is that the cloth-covered monkey was more attractive than the bare wire monkey.
E: the two different hats might have acted as a confounding variable with infant monkeys spending more time with the cloth covered monkey, because it was more attractive
L: this suggests the Harlows conclusion lacks internal validity as the two surrogate mothers were not appropriately controlled.