HARLOW

• WHAT WAS THE AIM OF HARLOW'S EXPERIMENT?

  investigate attachment process in rhesus monkeys
• WHAT DESIGN WAS HARLOW'S STUDY?

  independent groups
• WHAT WAS THE SAMPLE IN HARLOW'S EXPERIMENT?

  8 rhesus monkeys
• WHAT WERE THE TWO CONDITIONS IN HARLOW'S STUDY?

  1. Wire mother with food and a cloth mother without food
  2. Cloth mother with food and a wire mother without food
• WHAT WAS THE PROCEDURE USED IN HARLOW'S EXPERIMENT?

  1. Put monkeys in cages with two surrogate mothers
  2. Measured how long monkeys spent with each mother
  3. Recorded which mother the monkeys went to when frightened
• FINDINGS OF HARLOW'S STUDY?

  • would spend up to 22/24 hours a day with cloth mother (even though it did not provide food)
  • always went to cloth mother when frightened
  • when returned to live with peers, monkeys could not socialise or successfully rear their young
• CONCLUSIONS OF HARLOW'S STUDY?

  • monkeys attach for comfort and security
  • do not attach due to an association with food
  • early childhood attachment affects later relationships
• STRENGTHS OF HARLOW'S STUDY?

  important practical applications
• WEAKNESSES OF HARLOW'S STUDY?

  • extent of generalisability (from monkeys to humans) is debatable
  • severe criticism of ethics
• WHY IS THE EXTENT OF GENERALISABILITY OF HARLOW'S STUDY DEBATABLE?

  • monkeys and humans are very similar biologically
  • but humans have a language development that influences attachment (e.g. babbling)
• WHAT DOES THE ISSUE OF GENERALISABILITY OF HARLOW'S STUDY SUGGEST ABOUT THE FINDINGS?

  must be cautious when applying to human behaviour
• WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF HARLOW'S STUDY?

  • helped understand negative effects of isolation and neglect
  • help social workers recognise these behaviours
  • equip social workers to intervene and prevent abuse
• WHAT DID SEVERE CRITICISM OF HARLOW'S RESEARCH ETHICS CAUSE?

  • rhesus monkeys experience emotion and anxiety (suffering in study was arguably unacceptable)
  • which has the potential to ruin the reputation of psychology
• WHAT IS A COUNTER-ARGUMENT FOR THE SEVERE CRITICISM OF THE ETHICS OF HARLOW'S RESEARCH?

  cost of animal harm is outweighed by the benefits of understanding more about attachment in humans