Harlow - monkey

• Harlow's monkey study 1958

  • AIMS: observing new born rhesus monkeys to aid understanding of animal attachment
  • procedure: lured 16 baby monkeys w 2 wired mothers
  • 1 made of just wire (condition 1)
  • 1 made of wire covered in cloth (condition 2)
• Findings

  • Monkeys showed preference to the cloth covered mother & cuddled/comfort w them more when frightened
  • regardless of which mother dispensed milk the cloth-covered mother was the fav
• conclusion

  • concludes that comfort from the mother was more important food
  • when it came to attachment beh - showed preference to the cloth covered mother & viewed as a secure base
• Follow up study

  • Harlow et al followed monkeys deprived of a

  mother

  • found monkeys w the wired mother as opposed to those with the cloth covered mother were the most dysfunctional
  • however both were more aggressive & less social

  than those wistho

  ciraeal mother

  a

  When the test monkeys become mothers they

  to their child

  even attacked killed their children
• Harlow's monkeys

  • in a controlled environment, infant monkeys reared w two mother surrogates
  • plain wire mother dispensing food, cloth-covered mother w no food
  • time spent w each mother was recorded
  • long-term effects recorded: relationship to offspring