HARLOW

• How did Harlow study attachment?

  created two wire ‘monkeys’ with different heads, one had soft cloth.

  16 rhesus monkeys. Measurements made of the amount of time each infant spent with the two ‘mothers’ and how they responded when frightened
• what were the two conditions?

  1 milk from plain wire monkey

  2 milk from cloth monkey
• what were the findings of Harlows experiment?

  all spent time with cloth covered mother regardless of feeding bottle. only spent short time with wire if it had feeding bottle

  clung to cloth covered when frightened

  kept one foot on cloth for reassurance
• what are the conclusions of Harlows experiments?

  contact comfort is more important then food
• what were the long lasting effects?

  as adults the monkeys developed abnormally, more aggressive, less sociable, and less skilled in mating
• Strengths of Harlow

  Real world application: helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse and how to intervene/prevent it. Understand importance of attachment figures in zoos ect
• limitations of Harlow

  not generalisable

  ethical issues