L9 - Harlow (1959)

Question 1

what did Harlow do?

Answer 1

• conducted landmark study on attachment - called study report ‘Origins of Love’ + wanted to demonstrate that mother love not based on feeding bond between mother + infant as suggested by learning theory

Question 2

What was Harlow’s procedure?

Answer 2

• created 2 wire ‘mothers’ - one wrapped in soft cloth
• 8 rhesus monkeys seperated from mother at birth + studies for period of 165 days
• placed in a cage with the two wire mothers
• half monkeys recieved milk from wire + half from cloth
• during 165 days time that monkeys spent with each mother measured - observations were made of monkey’s responses to being frightened by a mechanical teddy bear - how they coped with exploring new room full of unfamiliar toys

Question 3

What were Harlow’s findings?

Answer 3

• all 8 monkeys spent most time with cloth mother - regardless of whether it was the one that had the feeding bottle or not
• the ones that were fed by exposed wire mother only stayed with it for milk and then returned back to soft cloth mother
• when frightened with mechanical teddy bear all monkeys clung to soft cloth mother
• when exploring new objects monkeys kept one foot on cloth mother
• when placed ina new environment they were not confident enough to explore unless soft cloth mother with them

Question 4

What were the long-term effects of Harlow’s study?

Answer 4

• continued to study the 8 monkeys as they grew up
• developed abonormally - froze/ fled whe approached by other monkeys - did not show normal mating behaviour + did not cradle their own babies
• if they spent time with other monkeys before they were 3 months old then they could recover - having more than 3 months with only a wire mother was something that they could not recover from

Question 5

What were the strengths of Harlow’s study?

Answer 5

+ Schaffer + Emerson also found that food not necessary for attachment to form - discovered that babies attach to people who pllay with them, rather than people who feed them - 39% of cases although mother fed the baby, baby more attached to someone else

Question 6

What were the weaknesses of Harlow’s study?

Answer 6

• could be considered unethical - monkeys taken away from there mothers when they were babies coud have been very traumatic - scared deliberately to see how they would react led to long-term emotional harm, when they grew up and encountered other monkeys they froze/fled - also had difficulty caring for their own younf (did not cradle them) as they werent cared for themselves
• problematic to extrapolate findings from this study to attachment in human infants. what applies to non-human species may not necessarily apply to human infants - humans phsyiologically very different from monkeys as well as having several other influences that monkeys do not have - culture/ society/ peers
• attachment bond between human infants + attachment figures is far more complex than it is for monkeys - several different attachment types (secure/ avoidant/ resistant)