Harlow

• What were the findings in Harlow's study?

  • monkeys spent 18 hours per day with contact comfort (cloth mother), and less than 1 hour per day with food (wire mother)
  • shows that contact comfort is more important than food in attachment behaviour
  • contact comfort also provided a reduction in fear and gave confidence to explore the world
  • monkeys deprived of attachment became aggressive and dysfunctional as adults, unskilled at mating, and some even attacked their children
  • attachment must be formed within a critical period of 90 days
• What were the strengths of Harlow's research?

  + high internal validity (lab experiment, controlled environmental conditions)

  + RWA: importance of contact comfort and bonding experiences in child development, attachment figures for monkeys in zoos
• What were the limitations of Harlow's research?

  • limited generalisability for humans
  • ethical issues: lack of attachment affected monkeys for the rest of their lives, no protection from harm