Lesson 9: Harlow (1959)

Question 1

What did Harlow do?

Answer 1

Conducted a landmark study on attachment. It was called ‘Origins of Love’ and sought to demonstrate that attachment was not based on feeding, as learning theory states.

Question 2

What was Harlow’s Procedure?

Answer 2

2 wire mothers, different heads, exposed wire/soft clot. Half got milk from one and half got milk from the other. 165 days, time with each mother was measured. Frightened by mechanical teddy bear, room full of toys.

Question 3

What were Harlow’s findings?

Answer 3

all 8 monkeys spent more time with soft cloth mother. Only stayed on wire mother long enough to get food. When frightened, clung to soft cloth and kept one foot on soft cloth when exploring new rooms. Not confident to explore unless mother was with them.

Question 4

What Long-term effects did Harlow find?

Answer 4

Developed aborally, froze or fled when approached by other monkeys, did not show normal mating behaviour, did not cradle their own babies. Monkeys could recover if they spent time with other monkeys before 3 months old.

Question 5

Positives of Harlow’s experiment

Answer 5

Schaffer and Emerson found food was not necessary for attachment. Babies were often attached to people who play with them. 39% of babies were attached to someone other then the mother despite them feeding them

Question 6

Negatives of Harlow’s Experiment

Answer 6

1. Unethical, monkeys were removed from mothers, long term effects because of this
2. Problematic to generalise findings to humans
3. Humans have different types of attachment and this is more complex then in monkeys