Harlow

• What year did Harlow do his study?

  1959
• What was the aim of Harlow’s study?

  To test learning theory
• What was Harlow’s procedure?

  • Four conditions with different milk producing mothers (cloth or wire)
  • Amount of time spent with and time spent feeding was recorded
  • Monkeys frightened to see which they’d go to for comfort
• What did Harlow find?

  • Monkeys preferred cloth mother regardless of whether she produced milk or not
  • Monkeys only with wire mother were distressed
  • When frightened, monkeys clung to cloth mother
  • When put in a large environment, monkeys with cloth mothers explored more and returned to her more
• What are the conclusions Harlow came to?

  • In monkeys, there is an innate need for comfort over the need for food
  • Contact comfort is associated with emotional security
• What are the weaknesses of Harlow’s study?

  • Extrapolation issues
  • Ethics - distress caused from separation and frightening