Animal studies

• What was Harlow's (1958) aim and procedure with the rhesus monkeys?

  • 16 rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers immediately after birth and placed in cages with 2 model wire mothers who both dispensed milk
  • One mother was covered in a soft cloth whole one was just plain wire
• What were Harlow's (1958) findings?

  • Baby monkeys cuddled the cloth mother and sought comfort when frightened by noises, even if she had no milk
  • Once fed they would return to the cloth mother frequently and even explored more
  • Second group would only go to the wire mother when hungry
  • Shows that 'contact comfort' is more important for attachment and development than food
• What did Harlow find about maternally deprived monkeys as adults?

  • Monkeys reared with surrogate mothers were dysfunctional and didn't develop normal social behaviour
  • Became aggressive, didn't know how to behave with other monkeys and had difficulty with mating so bred less
  • Females were inadequate as mothers, neglecting their young, attacking them and even killing their offspring
• What did Harlow suggest was the critical period for normal development?

  • Negative behaviours were observed in monkeys who had spent over 90 days with the surrogate mothers
  • Those that left before 90 days could form attachments if placed in normal environments
  • Shows that attachments had to be formed within 90 days before it becomes impossible and damage becomes irreversible
• How does real-world value strengthen Harlow's study?

  • Has allowed psychologists and social workers to understand that a lack of a bonding experience is a risk factor for child development
  • Allows them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes
  • Shows practical value of Harlow's research as it can be applied and used for real life problems
• How does generalisability to humans weaken Harlow's study?

  • Rhesus monkeys, although being more similar to humans than Lorenz's goslings, do not share the complexity of human brains and behaviours
  • Shows it still may not be appropriate to generalise these findings to humans
• What is a weakness of Harlow's study?

  • Caused severe and long-term distress to the monkeys
  • A lot were treated poorly during the investigation - were starved and kept malnourished for the sake of the study
  • Raises ethical concerns for their physical wellbeing
  • Reduces reliability of the study as it cannot be replicated due to ethical issues - means we cannot achieve consistency in findings