Harry Harlow Theory & Rhesus Monkey Experiments in Psychology
Saul McLeod, PhD
Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
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Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
Associate Editor for Simply Psychology
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
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Harlow (1958 wanted to study the mechanisms by which newborn rhesus monkeys bond with their mothers.
These infants depended highly on their mothers for nutrition, protection, comfort, and socialization. What, exactly, though, was the basis of the bond?
The learning theory of attachment suggests that an infant would form an attachment with a carer who provides food. In contrast, Harlow explained that attachment develops due to the mother providing “tactile comfort,” suggesting that infants have an innate (biological) need to touch and cling to something for emotional comfort.
Harry Harlow did a number of studies on attachment in rhesus monkeys during the 1950’s and 1960″s. His experiments took several forms:
Cloth Mother vs. Wire Mother Experiment
Experiment 1.
Harlow (1958) separated infant monkeys from their mothers immediately after birth and placed in cages with access to two surrogate mothers, one made of wire and one covered in soft terry toweling cloth.
In the first group, the terrycloth mother provided no food, while the wire mother did, in the form of an attached baby bottle containing milk.
Both groups of monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother (even if she had no milk). The infant would only go to the wire mother when hungry. Once fed it would return to the cloth mother for most of the day. If a frightening object was placed in the cage the infant took refuge with the cloth mother (its safe base).
This surrogate was more effective in decreasing the youngster’s fear. The infant would explore more when the cloth mother was present.
This supports the evolutionary theory of attachment , in that the sensitive response and security of the caregiver are important (as opposed to the provision of food).
Experiment 2
Harlow (1958) modified his experiment and separated the infants into two groups: the terrycloth mother which provided no food, or the wire mother which did.
All the monkeys drank equal amounts and grew physically at the same rate. But the similarities ended there. Monkeys who had soft, tactile contact with their terry cloth mothers behaved quite differently than monkeys whose mothers were made out of hard wire.
The behavioral differences that Harlow observed between the monkeys who had grown up with surrogate mothers and those with normal mothers were;
- They were much more timid.
- They didn’t know how to act with other monkeys.
- They were easily bullied and wouldn’t stand up for themselves.
- They had difficulty with mating.
- The females were inadequate mothers.
These behaviors were observed only in the monkeys left with the surrogate mothers for more than 90 days.
For those left less than 90 days, the effects could be reversed if placed in a normal environment where they could form attachments.
Rhesus Monkeys Reared in Isolation
Harlow (1965) took babies and isolated them from birth. They had no contact with each other or anybody else.
He kept some this way for three months, some for six, some for nine and some for the first year of their lives. He then put them back with other monkeys to see what effect their failure to form attachment had on behavior.
The results showed the monkeys engaged in bizarre behavior, such as clutching their own bodies and rocking compulsively. They were then placed back in the company of other monkeys.
To start with the babies were scared of the other monkeys, and then became very aggressive towards them. They were also unable to communicate or socialize with other monkeys. The other monkeys bullied them. They indulged in self-mutilation, tearing hair out, scratching, and biting their own arms and legs.<!–
In addition, Harlow created a state of anxiety in female monkeys which had implications once they became parents. Such monkeys became so neurotic that they smashed their infant’s face into the floor and rubbed it back and forth.
Harlow concluded that privation (i.e., never forming an attachment bond) is permanently damaging (to monkeys).
The extent of the abnormal behavior reflected the length of the isolation. Those kept in isolation for three months were the least affected, but those in isolation for a year never recovered from the effects of privation.
Conclusions
Studies of monkeys raised with artificial mothers suggest that mother-infant emotional bonds result primarily from mothers providing infants with comfort and tactile contact, rather than just fulfilling basic needs like food.
Harlow concluded that for a monkey to develop normally s/he must have some interaction with an object to which they can cling during the first months of life (critical period).
Clinging is a natural response – in times of stress the monkey runs to the object to which it normally clings as if the clinging decreases the stress.
He also concluded that early maternal deprivation leads to emotional damage but that its impact could be reversed in monkeys if an attachment was made before the end of the critical period .
However, if maternal deprivation lasted after the end of the critical period, then no amount of exposure to mothers or peers could alter the emotional damage that had already occurred.
Harlow found, therefore, that it was social deprivation rather than maternal deprivation that the young monkeys were suffering from.
When he brought some other infant monkeys up on their own, but with 20 minutes a day in a playroom with three other monkeys, he found they grew up to be quite normal emotionally and socially.
The Impact of Harlow’s Research
Harlow’s research has helped social workers to understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse such as a lack of comfort (and so intervene to prevent it).
Using animals to study attachment can benefit children who are most at risk in society and can also have later economic implications, as those children are more likely to grow up to be productive members of society.
Ethics of Harlow’s Study
Harlow’s work has been criticized. His experiments have been seen as unnecessarily cruel (unethical) and of limited value in attempting to understand the effects of deprivation on human infants.
It was clear that the monkeys in this study suffered from emotional harm from being reared in isolation. This was evident when the monkeys were placed with a normal monkey (reared by a mother), they sat huddled in a corner in a state of persistent fear and depression.
Harlow’s experiment is sometimes justified as providing a valuable insight into the development of attachment and social behavior. At the time of the research, there was a dominant belief that attachment was related to physical (i.e., food) rather than emotional care.
It could be argued that the benefits of the research outweigh the costs (the suffering of the animals). For example, the research influenced the theoretical work of John Bowlby , the most important psychologist in attachment theory.
It could also be seen as vital in convincing people about the importance of emotional care in hospitals, children’s homes, and daycare.
Harlow, H. F., Dodsworth, R. O., & Harlow, M. K. (1965). Total social isolation in monkeys . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 54 (1), 90.
Harlow, H. F. & Zimmermann, R. R. (1958). The development of affective responsiveness in infant monkeys . Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 102 ,501 -509.
Harlow’s Classic Studies Revealed the Importance of Maternal Contact
- Child Development
- Cognitive Psychology
- Infant Development
- Social Interaction
- Social Isolation
- Social Psychology
Harry Harlow’s empirical work with primates is now considered a “classic” in behavioral science, revolutionizing our understanding of the role that social relationships play in early development. In the 1950s and 60s, psychological research in the United States was dominated by behaviorists and psychoanalysts, who supported the view that babies became attached to their mothers because they provided food. Harlow and other social and cognitive psychologists argued that this perspective overlooked the importance of comfort, companionship, and love in promoting healthy development.
Using methods of isolation and maternal deprivation, Harlow showed the impact of contact comfort on primate development. Infant rhesus monkeys were taken away from their mothers and raised in a laboratory setting, with some infants placed in separate cages away from peers. In social isolation, the monkeys showed disturbed behavior, staring blankly, circling their cages, and engaging in self-mutilation. When the isolated infants were re-introduced to the group, they were unsure of how to interact — many stayed separate from the group, and some even died after refusing to eat.
Even without complete isolation, the infant monkeys raised without mothers developed social deficits, showing reclusive tendencies and clinging to their cloth diapers. Harlow was interested in the infants’ attachment to the cloth diapers, speculating that the soft material may simulate the comfort provided by a mother’s touch. Based on this observation, Harlow designed his now-famous surrogate mother experiment.
In this study, Harlow took infant monkeys from their biological mothers and gave them two inanimate surrogate mothers: one was a simple construction of wire and wood, and the second was covered in foam rubber and soft terry cloth. The infants were assigned to one of two conditions. In the first, the wire mother had a milk bottle and the cloth mother did not; in the second, the cloth mother had the food while the wire mother had none.
In both conditions, Harlow found that the infant monkeys spent significantly more time with the terry cloth mother than they did with the wire mother. When only the wire mother had food, the babies came to the wire mother to feed and immediately returned to cling to the cloth surrogate.
Harlow’s work showed that infants also turned to inanimate surrogate mothers for comfort when they were faced with new and scary situations. When placed in a novel environment with a surrogate mother, infant monkeys would explore the area, run back to the surrogate mother when startled, and then venture out to explore again. Without a surrogate mother, the infants were paralyzed with fear, huddled in a ball sucking their thumbs. If an alarming noise-making toy was placed in the cage, an infant with a surrogate mother present would explore and attack the toy; without a surrogate mother, the infant would cower in fear.
Together, these studies produced groundbreaking empirical evidence for the primacy of the parent-child attachment relationship and the importance of maternal touch in infant development. More than 70 years later, Harlow’s discoveries continue to inform the scientific understanding of the fundamental building blocks of human behavior.
Harlow H. F., Dodsworth R. O., & Harlow M. K. (1965). Total social isolation in monkeys. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC285801/pdf/pnas00159-0105.pdf
Suomi, S. J., & Leroy, H. A. (1982). In memoriam: Harry F. Harlow (1905–1981). American Journal of Primatology, 2 , 319–342. doi:10.1002/ajp.1350020402
Tavris, C. A. (2014). Teaching contentious classics. The Association for Psychological Science . Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/teaching-contentious-classics
Loved the simplicity of article but wanted to Apa cite it but didn’t see a name who wrote it
typed a partial comment and was disrupted and never got around to sending it. I tried to relocate it on my computer, but was not able. Could have been my thoughts. As a substitute teacher I see the results of giving a child a phone rather than giving a child love and all that goes with it. I see the predictions of Harry Harlow have come to pass. No absolutes, no positive examples, no investment of time, just looking for the allusive moment of quality time, that requires an investment TIME to be there for that moment in time. Any way I’m probably not the one you’re looking for.
The above summary fails to address any critique of Harlow’s legacy. Nothing about use of Harlow’s “pit of despair,” or his “rape rack” to use his own term? Nothing about beginning “his harsher isolation and depression experiments while “corrosively depressed” and “stumbling around drunk”? No concern about any possibility of sadism as “science”? No question of “how much suffering is justified by the imperatives of science”? For starters, see S. Hansen’s 11/13/2002 salon.com review of Deborah Blum’s Love at Goon Park, or the essay on Harlow in psychologist Loren Slater’s book, Opening Skinner’s Box.
Gigi, the sole reason for the experiment was not to root out sadism, it was to explain the need for attachment. Sorry about the special feelings you have for animals. It is a good point you let us see, you can now use that opportunity to show us sadism in regards to the research they made. I will search that article you point out to see what that author had to say about sadism.
I read these these experiments when they were published in the Scientific American journals.
I find he article a good review of the original work.
I worked in Harlow’s lab as as an undergraduate student in 1951/52. What I learned from this experience is the value of facts and verified statements about animal behavior. As a 20 year old kid discharged from the army, I was severely reprimanded for stating that a monkey had bit me in anger when I slapped its paw for trying to steal reasons out of lab coat. I was bitten but I invented the reason. Our work was to flesh out the phylo-genetic scale. Along with just learning studies, with white rats as well.
And what did you discover?
Wow that’s amazing you worked in the lab, I think so just starting out in psychology and my first lesson was Harlow. It’s was very interesting learning about him, my only thought was the monkeys have to admit but that was done in those days. Thanks Sue
I agree that in this day and age, we would criticize this treatment. I have no doubt much of it still goes on, people still eat animals. That was a different time, we learn from the past so that we do not repeat it. But to be angry about the past or that someone could find the good research that was deemed from it is histrionic and a waste of positive energy.
Are you people insane? “I agree that in this day and age, we would criticize this treatment” I was raised in exactly in accord with Harlow’s experiments, denied human contact almost since birth. And you APPROVE of this?! “That was a different time, we learn from the past so that we do not repeat it.” Oh, you know so little. Look up “secure confinement” and consider what children face every day of their lives.
I agree with Harry’s theory.
I also find it sadistic or at least totally lacking in sensitivity and compassion to have torn these baby monkeys from their mothers to learn what.That they prefer warmth to a hard screen even when food is involved? It is this kind of thinking that leads to the willingness of politicians to separate families, putting children in cages so that they will be less likely to come to America for help. Truly sadistic!
I think we need like a chat forum for discussion about these issues honestly. I’d love to debate about this stuff actually and am wondering whether any means is sufficient. In regards to the actual experiment, Im not going to get my beliefs on ethical treatment mixed up and it did produce significant findings. I’m more upset about the actual findings themselves. It could also be because I see some very loose correlation between them and my life unfortunately. The published paper was definitely worth the read and I wish I didn’t.
I think the whole point is that the experiments show why politicians should NOT separate families etc.. it’s difficult to prove the effects of cruelty without being cruel. The alarming thing is how little has been learned from the sacrifice. I know a young woman with learning difficulties, abandonment issues and probable RAD who is in care. She has created a fantasy world with cuddly toys. She is chastised for this by her ‘carers’ who confiscate them and make her feel guilty about her self. I am currently composing a letter for social services to intervene. I intend enclosing the above article. Everyone who works in care should be made to read it!
I studied psychology as an undergrad several years ago, and of the cognitive development experiments that made it into academic text, Harlow’s was one that has always stuck in my mind. To refer to the outcomes and substantiated findings of studies such as these, without acknowledging the cruelty perpetuated in carrying them out, might be impossible. The two go hand in hand, and that’s the point. But years later, can we say the ends justified the means? Yes…and no. Studies such as this one, were done years ago, perhaps in a time with very different regulations; however, the findings are none the less very substantial. And, I personally believe could, and should, be referred to in the training of a variety of service and caregiver professions, as this last comment suggests. There is still much to be learned in Behavioral science area of study, but as a society in need of great change as a whole, we should be working to figure out how we can capitalize on the knowledge gained from past studies such as this one…as opposed to focusing solely on the conditions in which they were done in. That’s not to allow our emotions to diminish the importance of the findings, without putting them to good use in our everyday lives. The end goal being to make a positive difference in society moving forward.
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Harlow’s Monkey Experiments: 3 Findings About Attachment
When that need is met, the infant develops a secure attachment style; however, when that need is not met, the infant can develop an attachment disorder.
In this post, we’ll briefly explore attachment theory by looking at Harlow’s monkey experiments and how those findings relate to human behavior and attachment styles. We’ll also look at some of the broader research that resulted from Harlow’s experiments.
Before we begin, I have to warn you that Harlow’s experiments are distressing and can be upsetting. Nowadays, his experiments are considered unethical and would most likely not satisfy the requirements of an ethical board. However, knowing this, the findings of his research do provide insight into the important mammalian bond that exists between infant and parent.
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This Article Contains:
Harlow’s experiments: a brief summary, three fascinating findings & their implications, its connection to love and attachment theory, follow-up and related experiments, criticisms of harlow’s experiments, ethical considerations of harlow’s experiments, relevant positivepsychology.com resources, a take-home message.
Harry Harlow was trained as a psychologist, and in 1930 he was employed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His areas of expertise were in infant–caregiver relationships, infant dependency and infant needs, and social deprivation and isolation. He is also well known for his research using rhesus monkeys.
Maternal surrogates: Food versus comfort
For his experiments, Harlow (1958) separated infant rhesus monkeys from their mothers. He then constructed two surrogate ‘mothers’ for the infants: one surrogate made out of metal but that provided milk through an artificial nipple, the other surrogate covered in soft, fluffy material but that didn’t offer food.
The first surrogate delivered food but provided no comfort; the second did not deliver food, but the rhesus infants were able to cuddle with it.
When both surrogates were placed in the infants’ cages, Harlow found the surrogates satisfied different needs of the rhesus infants. The wire surrogate satisfied the infants’ primary need for food. However, when Harlow made a loud noise to frighten the rhesus infants, they ran to the second, fluffy surrogate for comfort.
Maternal surrogates: A secure base from which to explore
In subsequent experiments, Harlow (1958) showed that the fluffy surrogate acted as a secure base from which rhesus infants could explore an unfamiliar environment or objects. In these experiments, the infants, along with their fluffy surrogates, were placed in an unfamiliar environment like a new cage.
These infants would explore the environment and return to the surrogate for comfort if startled. In contrast, when the infants were placed in the new environment without a surrogate, they would not explore but rather lie on the floor, paralyzed, rocking back and forth, sucking their thumbs.
The absence of a maternal surrogate
Harlow also studied the development of rhesus monkeys that were not exposed to a fluffy surrogate or had no surrogate at all. The outcome for these infants was extremely negative. Rhesus infants raised with a milk-supplying metal surrogate had softer feces than infants raised with a milk-supplying fluffy surrogate.
Harlow posited that the infants with the metal surrogates suffered from psychological disturbances, which manifested in digestive problems.
Rhesus infants raised with no surrogates showed the same fearful behavior when placed in an unfamiliar environment as described above, except that their behavior persisted even when a surrogate was placed in the environment with them. They also demonstrated less exploratory behavior and less curiosity than infants raised with surrogates from a younger age.
When these infants were approximately a year old, they were introduced to a surrogate. In response, they behaved fearfully and violently. They would rock continuously, scream, and attempt to escape their cages. Fortunately, these behaviors dissipated after a few days. The infants approached, explored, and clung to the surrogate, but never to the same extent as infants raised with a fluffy surrogate from a younger age.
Primary drives are ones that ensure a creature’s survival, such as the need for food or water. Harlow suggests that there is another drive, ‘contact comfort,’ which the fluffy surrogate satisfied.
The ‘contact comfort’ drive does more than just satisfy a need for love and comfort. From Harlow’s experiments, it seems that these fluffy surrogates offered a secure, comforting base from which infants felt confident enough to explore unfamiliar environments and objects, and to cope with scary sounds.
Conclusions from Harlow’s work were limited to the role of maternal surrogates because the surrogates also provided milk – a function that only female mammals can perform. Consequently, it was posited that human infants have a strong need to form an attachment to a maternal caregiver (Bowlby, 1951). However, subsequent research has shown that human infants do not only form an attachment with:
- a female caregiver,
- a caregiver that produces milk, or
- one caregiver (Schaffer & Emerson, 1964).
The bond between human infant and caregiver is not limited to only mothers, but can extend to anyone who spends time with the infant. Schaffer and Emerson (1964) studied the emotional responses of 60 infants to better understand their attachments and behaviors.
They found that at the start of the study, most of the infants had formed an attachment with a single person, normally the mother (71%), and that just over a third of the infants had formed attachments to multiple people, sometimes over five.
However, when the infants were 18 months, only 13% had an attachment to a single person, and most of the infants had two or more attachments. The other people with whom infants formed an attachment included:
- Grandparents
- Siblings and family members
- People who were not part of their family, including neighbors or other children
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Harlow’s experiment on rhesus monkeys shed light on the importance of the relationship between caregiver and infant. This relationship satisfies other needs besides food and thirst, and the behavior of rhesus infants differs depending on whether they were raised (1) with or without a surrogate and (2) whether that surrogate was a fluffy (i.e., comforting) or metal (i.e., non-comforting) one.
Widespread thinking at the time was that children only needed their physical needs to be satisfied in order to grow up into healthy, well-adjusted adults (Bowlby, 1951, 1958). Harlow’s work, however, suggests that the caregiver satisfies another need of the infant: the need for love.
It is difficult to know whether the infant monkeys truly loved the surrogate mothers because Harlow could not ask them directly or measure the feeling of love using equipment.
But there is no doubt that the presence (or absence) of a surrogate mother deeply affected the behavior of the infant monkeys, and monkeys with surrogate mothers displayed more normal behavior than those without.
Additionally, Harlow’s work also showed that infant monkeys looked for comfort in the fluffy surrogate mother, even if that surrogate mother never provided food.
From this research, we can conclude that infants feel an attachment toward their caregiver. That attachment is experienced as what we know to be ‘love.’ This attachment seems to be important for a variety of reasons, such as:
- Feeling safe when afraid or in an unfamiliar environment
- Responding in a loving, comforting way to the needs and feelings of infants
The infant’s need to form an attachment was not considered a primary need until 1952, when Bowlby argued that this basic need was one that infants feel instinctually (Bowlby & World Health Organization, 1952).
Bowlby’s work formed the basis of attachment theory – the theory that the relationship between infant and caregiver affects the infant’s psychological development.
The contributions from these researchers include:
- The emotional needs of infants are critical to healthy development and survival
- Parents play an important role besides merely satisfying the physical needs of an infant to ensure survival
Maternal deprivation
John Bowlby (1958) argued that maternal deprivation has extremely negative effects on the psychological and emotional development of children.
He was especially interested in extreme forms of parental deprivation, such as children who were homeless, abandoned, or institutionalized and therefore had no contact with their parents.
From his research, Bowlby argued that satisfying the physiological needs of the child did not ensure healthy development and that the effects of maternal deprivation were grave and difficult to reverse.
Specifically, he argued that how the caregiver behaves in response to the behavior and feelings of an infant plays an important role in infants’ psychological and emotional development (Bowlby, 1958).
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Attachment styles in infants
How the caregiver responds to the infant is known as sensitive responsiveness (Ainsworth et al., 1978). The fluffy surrogate mothers in Harlow’s experiment were not responsive, obviously; however, their presence, the material used to cover them, and their shape allowed the rhesus infants to cling to them, providing comfort, albeit a basic, unresponsive one.
The findings from research by Harlow and Bowlby led to pioneering work by Mary Ainsworth on infant–mother attachments and attachment theory in infants. Specifically, she developed an alternative method to study child–parent attachments, using the ‘strange situation procedure’:
- The parent and child are placed together in an unfamiliar room.
- At some point, a (female) stranger enters the room, chats to the parent and plays with/chats to the infant.
- The parent leaves the room, and the child and stranger are alone together.
- The parent returns to the room, and the stranger leaves. The parent chats and plays with the child.
- The parent leaves the room, and the child is alone.
- The stranger returns and tries to chat and play with the child.
Depending on how the child behaved at the separation and introduction of the parent and the stranger, respectively, the attachment style between the infant and mother was classified as either secure, anxious-avoidant, or anxious-resistant.
For more reading on Mary Ainsworth, Harlow, and Bowlby, you can find out more about their work in our What is Attachment Theory? article.
Harlow’s studies on dependency in monkeys – Michael Baker
Subsequent research has questioned some of Harlow’s original findings and theories (Rutter, 1979). Some of these criticisms include:
- Harlow’s emphasis on the importance of a single, maternal figure in the child–parent relationship. As mentioned earlier, children can develop important relationships with different caregivers who do not need to be female/maternal figures (Schaffer & Emerson, 1964).
- The difference between a bond and an attachment. Children can form attachments without forming bonds. For example, a child might follow a teacher (i.e., an example of attachment behavior) and yet not have any deep bonds or relationships with other children. This suggests that these two types of relationships might be slightly different or governed by different processes.
- Other factors can also influence the relationship between child and parent, and their attachment. One such factor is the temperament of the parent or the child (Sroufe, 1985). For example, an anxious parent or child might show behavior that suggests an insecure attachment style. Another factor is that behaviors that suggest attachment do not necessarily mean that the parent is better responding to the child’s needs. For example, children are more likely to follow a parent when in an unfamiliar environment. This behavior does not automatically imply that the child’s behavior is a result of the way the parent has responded in the past; instead, this is just how children behave.
One of Harlow’s most controversial claims was that peers were an adequate substitute for maternal figures. Specifically, he argued that monkeys that were raised with other similarly aged monkeys behaved the same as monkeys that were raised with their parents. In other words, the relationship with a parent is not unique, and peers can meet these ‘parental’ needs.
However, subsequent research showed that rhesus monkeys raised with peers were shyer, explored less, and occupied lower roles in monkey hierarchies (Suomi, 2008; Bastian, Sponberg, Suomi, & Higley, 2002).
Importantly, Harlow’s experiments are not evidence that there should be no separation between parent and infant. Such a scenario would be almost impossible in a normal environment today. Frequent separations between parent and infant are normal; however, it is critical that the infant can re-establish contact with the parent.
If contact is successfully re-established, then the bond between parent and child is reinforced.
Impact on psychological theories about human behavior
Harlow’s research on rhesus monkeys demonstrated the important role that parents have in our development and that humans have other salient needs that must be met to achieve happiness.
Harlow’s work added weight to the arguments put forward by Sigmund Freud (2003) that our relationship with our parents can affect our psychological development and behavior later in our lives.
Harlow’s work also influenced research on human needs. For example, Maslow (1943) argued that humans have a hierarchy of needs that must be met in order to experience life satisfaction and happiness.
The first tier comprises physiological needs, such as hunger and thirst, followed by the second tier of needs such as having a secure place to live. The third tier describes feelings of love and belonging, such as having emotional bonds with other people. Maslow argued that self-actualization could only be reached when all of our needs were met.
Harlow continued to perform experiments on rhesus monkeys, including studying the effects of partial to complete social deprivation. It is highly unlikely that Harlow’s experiments would pass the rigorous requirements of any ethics committee today. The separation of an infant from their parent, especially intending to study the effect of this separation, would be considered cruel.
Kobak (2012) outlines the experiments performed by Harlow, and it is immediately obvious that many of these animals experienced severe emotional distress because of their living conditions.
In the partial isolation experiments, Harlow isolated a group of 56 monkeys from other monkeys; although they could hear and see the other monkeys, they were prevented from interacting with or touching them. These monkeys developed aggressive and severely disturbed behavior, such as staring into space, repetitive behaviors, and self-harm through chewing and tearing at their flesh.
Furthermore, the monkeys that were raised in isolation did not display normal mating behavior and failed in mating.
The complete social deprivation experiments were especially cruel. In these experiments, they raised the monkeys in a box, alone, with no sensory contact with other monkeys. They never saw, heard, or came into contact with any other monkeys.
The only contact that they had was with a human experimenter, but this was through a one-way screen and remote control; there was no visual input of another living creature.
Harlow described this experience as the ‘pit of despair.’ Monkeys raised in this condition for two years showed severely disturbed behavior, unable to interact with other monkeys, and efforts to reverse the effect of two years in isolation were unsuccessful.
Harlow considered this experiment as an analogy of what happens to children completely deprived of any social contact for the first few years of their lives.
The effects of Harlow’s experiments were not limited to only one generation of monkeys. In one of his studies, a set of rhesus monkeys raised with surrogates, rather than their own mothers, gave birth to their own infants.
Harlow observed that these parent-monkeys, which he termed ‘motherless monkeys,’ were dysfunctional parents. They either ignored their offspring or were extremely aggressive toward them. They raised two generations of monkeys to test the effect of parental deprivation.
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Harlow’s monkey experiments were cruel, but it would have been impossible to conduct the same experiments using human infants.
Furthermore, Harlow’s experiments helped shift attention to the important role that caregivers provide for children.
When Harlow was publishing his research, the medical fraternity believed that meeting the physical needs of children was enough to ensure a healthy child. In other words, if the child is fed, has water, and is kept warm and clean, then the child will develop into a healthy adult.
Harlow’s experiments showed that this advice was not true and that the emotional needs of infants are critical to healthy development.
With love, affection, and comfort, infants can develop into healthy adults.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Relationships Exercises for free .
- Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation . Erlbaum.
- Bastian, M. L., Sponberg, A. C., Suomi, S. J., & Higley, J. D. (2002). Long-term effects of infant rearing condition on the acquisition of dominance rank in juvenile and adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Developmental Psychobiology , 42 , 44–51.
- Bowlby, J. (1951). Maternal care and mental health . Columbia University Press.
- Bowlby, J. (1958). The nature of the child’s tie to his mother. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis , 39 , 350–373.
- Bowlby, J., & World Health Organization. (1952). Maternal care and mental health: A report prepared on behalf of the World Health Organization as a contribution to the United Nations programme for the welfare of homeless children . World Health Organization.
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- Freud, S. (2003). An outline of psychoanalysis . Penguin UK.
- Harlow, H. F. (1958). The nature of love. American Psychologist , 13 (12), 673.
- Kobak, R. (2012). Attachment and early social deprivation: Revisiting Harlow’s monkey studies. Developmental psychology: Revisiting the classic studies , S , 10–23.
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- Rutter, M. (1979). Maternal deprivation, 1972–1978: New findings, new concepts, new approaches. Child Development , 50 (2), 283–305.
- Schaffer, H. R., & Emerson, P. E. (1964). The development of social attachments in infancy. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development , 29 (3), 1–77.
- Sroufe, L. A. (1985). Attachment classification from the perspective of infant-caregiver relationships and infant temperament. Child Development , 56 (1), 1–14.
- Suomi, S. J. (2008). Attachment in rhesus monkeys. In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications (pp. 173–191). Guilford Press.
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Parental attunement and attention also shape the architecture of the brain and the function of the nervous system. When a child does not encounter sufficient parental attunement, compassion, kindness, and empathy, they are deprived of experiences that foster the integration of the brain. This results in a dysregulated nervous system, which cannot produce regulated emotions, thoughts, behaviors, relationships, or bodily systems. The impeded integration causes internal distress, the symptoms of which include chronic illness, recurrent pain, poor relationships, and “mental health” conditions (which are health conditions).
The child (and subsequently insufficiently supported adult) tries to find relief through whatever means are available: numbing, acting out, withdrawing, overeating, substance abuse, dissociation, splitting, self-harm, etc. These are not “disorders” but *survival adaptations* demanded by the unsafe environment. The child/adult uses whatever survival adaptations are available; when they have better options, they use them.
When the dysregulated person receives sufficient psychosocial support, such as through truly therapeutic or other integrative relationships, the brain can integrate and the nervous system can regulate. People, like animals and plants, flourish in supportive environments. Fix the environment and the symptoms fade.
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Harry Harlow and the Nature of Affection
What Harlow's Infamous Monkey Mother Experiments Revealed
- Love and Affection
- Harry Harlow's Research on Love
- Wire Mother Experiment
- Fear and Security
Impact of Harry Harlow’s Research
Frequently asked questions.
Harry Harlow was one of the first psychologists to scientifically investigate the nature of human love and affection. Through a series of controversial monkey mother experiments, Harlow was able to demonstrate the importance of early attachments, affection, and emotional bonds in the course of healthy development.
This article discusses his famous monkey mother experiments and what the results revealed. It also explores why Harlow's monkey experiments are so unethical and controversial.
Early Research On Love
During the first half of the 20th century, many psychologists believed that showing affection towards children was merely a sentimental gesture that served no real purpose. According to many thinkers of the day, affection would only spread diseases and lead to adult psychological problems.
"When you are tempted to pet your child, remember that mother love is a dangerous instrument," the behaviorist John B. Watson once even went so far as to warn parents.
Psychologists were motivated to prove their field as a rigorous science. The behaviorist movement dominated the field of psychology during this time. This approach urged researchers to study only observable and measurable behaviors.
An American psychologist named Harry Harlow , however, became interested in studying a topic that was not so easy to quantify and measure—love. In a series of controversial experiments conducted during the 1960s, Harlow demonstrated the powerful effects of love and in particular, the absence of love.
His work demonstrated the devastating effects of deprivation on young rhesus monkeys. Harlow's research revealed the importance of a caregiver's love for healthy childhood development.
Harlow's experiments were often unethical and shockingly cruel , yet they uncovered fundamental truths that have influenced our understanding of child development.
Harry Harlow's Research on Love
Harlow noted that very little attention had been devoted to the experimental research of love. At the time, most observations were largely philosophical and anecdotal.
"Because of the dearth of experimentation, theories about the fundamental nature of affection have evolved at the level of observation, intuition, and discerning guesswork, whether these have been proposed by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, physicians, or psychoanalysts ," he noted.
Many of the existing theories of love centered on the idea that the earliest attachment between a mother and child was merely a means for the child to obtain food, relieve thirst, and avoid pain. Harlow, however, believed that this behavioral view of mother-child attachments was an inadequate explanation.
The Monkey Mother Experiment
His most famous experiment involved giving young rhesus monkeys a choice between two different "mothers." One was made of soft terrycloth but provided no food. The other was made of wire but provided nourishment from an attached baby bottle.
Harlow removed young monkeys from their natural mothers a few hours after birth and left them to be "raised" by these mother surrogates. The experiment demonstrated that the baby monkeys spent significantly more time with their cloth mother than with their wire mother.
In other words, the infant monkeys went to the wire mother only for food but preferred to spend their time with the soft, comforting cloth mother when they were not eating.
Based on these findings, Harry Harlow concluded that affection was the primary force behind the need for closeness.
Harry Harlow's Further Research
Later research demonstrated that young monkeys would also turn to their cloth surrogate mother for comfort and security. Such work revealed that affectionate bonds were critical for development.
Harlow utilized a "strange situation" technique similar to the one created by attachment researcher Mary Ainsworth . Young monkeys were allowed to explore a room either in the presence of their surrogate mother or in her absence.
Monkeys who were with their cloth mother would use her as a secure base to explore the room. When the surrogate mothers were removed from the room, the effects were dramatic. The young monkeys no longer had their secure base for exploration and would often freeze up, crouch, rock, scream, and cry.
Harry Harlow’s experiments offered irrefutable proof that love is vital for normal childhood development . Additional experiments by Harlow revealed the long-term devastation caused by deprivation, leading to profound psychological and emotional distress and even death.
Harlow’s work, as well as important research by psychologists John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, helped influence key changes in how orphanages, adoption agencies, social services groups, and childcare providers approached the care of children.
Harlow's work led to acclaim and generated a wealth of research on love, affection, and interpersonal relationships. However, his own personal life was marked by conflict.
After the terminal illness of his wife, he became engulfed by alcohol misuse and depression, eventually becoming estranged from his own children. Colleagues frequently described him as sarcastic, mean-spirited, misanthropic, chauvinistic, and cruel.
While he was treated for depression and eventually returned to work, his interests shifted following the death of his wife. He no longer focused on maternal attachment and instead developed an interest in depression and isolation.
Despite the turmoil that marked his later personal life, Harlow's enduring legacy reinforced the importance of emotional support, affection, and love in the development of children.
A Word From Verywell
Harry Harlow's work was controversial in his own time and continues to draw criticism today. While such experiments present major ethical dilemmas, his work helped inspire a shift in the way that we think about children and development and helped researchers better understand both the nature and importance of love.
Harlow's research demonstrated the importance of love and affection, specifically contact comfort, for healthy childhood development. His research demonstrated that children become attached to caregivers that provide warmth and love, and that this love is not simply based on providing nourishment.
Harlow's monkey mother experiment was unethical because of the treatment of the infant monkeys. The original monkey mother experiments were unnecessarily cruel. The infant monkeys were deprived of maternal care and social contact.
In later experiments, Harlow kept monkeys in total isolation in what he himself dubbed a "pit of despair." While the experiments provided insight into the importance of comfort contact for early childhood development, the research was cruel and unethical.
Hu TY, Li J, Jia H, Xie X. Helping others, warming yourself: altruistic behaviors increase warmth feelings of the ambient environment . Front Psychol . 2016;7:1349. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01349
Suomi SJ. Risk, resilience, and gene-environment interplay in primates . J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry . 2011;20(4):289-297.
Zhang B. Consequences of early adverse rearing experience(EARE) on development: insights from non-human primate studies . Zool Res . 2017;38(1):7-35. doi:10.13918/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.002
Harlow HF. The nature of love . American Psychologist. 1958;13(12):673-685. doi:10.1037/h0047884
Hong YR, Park JS. Impact of attachment, temperament and parenting on human development . Korean J Pediatr . 2012;55(12):449-454. doi:10.3345/kjp.2012.55.12.449
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Ottaviani J, Meconis D. Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love . Ann Arbor, MI: G.T. Labs; 2007.
By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."
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Unveiling Human Attachment: Insights from Harlow’s Monkey Experiments
By declan fitzpatrick, this article is divided into the following sections:.
The Harlow Monkey Experiments, conducted in the 1950s and 1960s by psychologist Harry Harlow, revolutionized our understanding of attachment and developmental psychology. Through a series of groundbreaking studies involving rhesus monkeys, Harlow challenged prevailing notions about the nature of love and the importance of maternal bonding.
By examining the methodology, findings, and implications of the Harlow Monkey Experiments, we can gain profound insights into the essential role of emotional and social connections in early development.
Methodology and Design
Harry Harlow’s experiments aimed to investigate the significance of caregiving and companionship in the cognitive and social growth of primates. He constructed surrogate mothers using wire and cloth, allowing him to isolate and analyze the factors contributing to attachment. Infant rhesus monkeys were separated from their biological mothers shortly after birth and placed in cages with two surrogate mothers—one made of wire that provided food and one covered in soft cloth that offered no nourishment. This setup enabled Harlow to observe the monkeys’ preferences and behaviors in choosing between comfort and sustenance.
Through meticulously designed experiments, Harlow observed how the infant monkeys interacted with the surrogates. He introduced various stressors to assess the monkeys’ responses and their reliance on the surrogate mothers for comfort and security. These controlled conditions allowed for a detailed examination of the emotional bonds formed between the infants and their surrogate caregivers.
Key Findings
The findings of the Harlow Monkey Experiments were both surprising and enlightening. Contrary to the dominant belief that attachment was primarily driven by the provision of food, Harlow discovered that the infant monkeys overwhelmingly preferred the cloth surrogate over the wire one, even when the latter provided nourishment. This preference for tactile comfort highlighted the critical role of contact comfort in the formation of attachment bonds.
Harlow’s experiments demonstrated that the need for affection and emotional security outweighed the basic need for food. The monkeys turned to the cloth surrogate when frightened or stressed, seeking solace and reassurance. These behaviors underscored the importance of a nurturing and comforting presence in fostering healthy psychological development.
Emotional and Social Implications
The implications of the Harlow Monkey Experiments extended beyond the realm of animal behavior, offering profound insights into human development as well. Harlow’s research challenged the then-prevalent behaviorist view that attachment was solely based on conditioned responses related to feeding. Instead, his findings emphasized the intrinsic need for warmth, comfort, and emotional connection in the development of secure and healthy attachments.
The experiments revealed that deprivation of meaningful social and emotional interaction had detrimental effects on the monkeys’ overall well-being. Monkeys raised with only the wire surrogate exhibited signs of severe emotional distress, social withdrawal, and abnormal behaviors. These findings drew attention to the potential consequences of neglect and lack of emotional support in human children, emphasizing the necessity of nurturing environments for optimal development.
Ethical Considerations
Despite its groundbreaking contributions, the Harlow Monkey Experiments have been scrutinized for their ethical implications. The experiments involved significant psychological and emotional distress for the infant monkeys, raising concerns about the moral treatment of animals in research. The isolation and deprivation experienced by the monkeys led to long-term negative outcomes, prompting debates about the ethical boundaries of experimental psychology.
In response to these concerns, the field of psychology has since established stricter ethical guidelines to ensure the humane treatment of animals in research. These guidelines emphasize the importance of minimizing harm and distress, promoting welfare, and considering alternative methods whenever possible. Harlow’s work, while controversial, played a role in shaping the ethical standards that govern contemporary psychological research.
Broader Societal Impact
The Harlow Monkey Experiments had a significant impact on various fields, including psychology, pediatrics, and child development. The insights gained from these studies prompted a reevaluation of childcare practices, highlighting the vital importance of emotional bonding and physical affection in early childhood. Harlow’s research influenced policies and practices related to parenting, adoption, and early childhood education, emphasizing the need for responsive and nurturing caregiving.
The findings also resonated within the context of hospital care for infants and children. Prior to Harlow’s work, institutionalized children often received minimal physical affection, leading to adverse developmental outcomes. The Harlow Monkey Experiments underscored the necessity of providing emotional and social support, shaping guidelines for more humane and effective caregiving practices.
Theoretical Contributions
Harlow’s research contributed to the theoretical framework of attachment theory, which was further developed by psychologists such as John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth . Attachment theory posits that early relationships with caregivers form the foundation for future social and emotional development. Harlow’s empirical evidence supported Bowlby’s concept of the “secure base,” where a nurturing caregiver provides a sense of safety and security, allowing the child to explore and engage with the world confidently.
The Harlow Monkey Experiments illustrated the profound impact of early attachment experiences on later behavior, validating the notion that secure attachments foster resilience and healthy psychological functioning. These findings continue to inform therapeutic approaches, particularly in addressing attachment disorders and trauma in children and adolescents.
The Harlow Monkey Experiments represent a landmark in the study of attachment and developmental psychology. Through his innovative and, at times, controversial research, Harry Harlow unveiled the fundamental importance of emotional and social bonds in early development. The experiments challenged conventional wisdom, demonstrating that the need for comfort and security profoundly shapes attachment behaviors.
While the ethical considerations surrounding the Harlow Monkey Experiments highlight the complex balance between scientific discovery and moral responsibility, the insights gained have had lasting implications. Harlow’s work has influenced childcare practices, theoretical frameworks, and therapeutic interventions, underscoring the critical role of nurturing and affectionate caregiving in fostering healthy development.
As we reflect on the legacy of the Harlow Monkey Experiments, it is clear our quest for understanding human attachment continues to evolve. By building on Harlow’s research and adhering to ethical standards, we can further our knowledge of the intricate interplay between emotional connections and psychological well-being, ultimately enhancing the lives of individuals and communities.
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The Harlow Monkey Experiment
Nov 28, 2023
The Harlow Monkey Experiment, conducted by psychologist Harry Harlow in 1958, was a groundbreaking study that investigated the importance of maternal care and social relationships in primate development.
Aim : The Harlow Monkey Experiment aimed to explore the effects of maternal separation and social isolation on infant monkeys’ psychological and social development.
Method : In the experiment, infant monkeys were separated from their biological mothers shortly after birth and raised in isolation or with surrogate “mothers” made of wire or cloth. The monkeys’ behavior and development were observed and compared to assess the impact of different caregiving conditions on their well-being.
Results : The experiment revealed that infant monkeys raised in isolation or with the wire surrogate mothers exhibited abnormal behaviors, such as self-injury and social withdrawal. In contrast, monkeys raised with the cloth surrogate mothers, despite lacking biological nourishment, displayed more normal social behaviors and developed healthier emotional attachments.
Factors identified : The Harlow Monkey Experiment highlighted the critical role of social relationships, particularly maternal care and physical contact, in primate development. It underscored the importance of emotional warmth and social interaction in fostering healthy psychological functioning.
Conclusion : The findings of the Harlow Monkey Experiment have had profound implications for our understanding of attachment theory and the importance of early social experiences in shaping individuals’ emotional and social development. The experiment demonstrated the detrimental effects of social deprivation and underscored the importance of caregiving quality in promoting well-being.
Criticisms : The Harlow Monkey Experiment has faced criticism for its ethical implications, particularly regarding the treatment of the infant monkeys and the potential for psychological harm. Critics argue that the experiment’s benefits may not have justified the suffering experienced by the animals.
Legacy : Despite ethical concerns, the Harlow Monkey Experiment remains a landmark study in developmental psychology, influencing research on attachment, social development, and the effects of early adversity on later outcomes. It has contributed to our understanding of the profound impact of early experiences on individuals’ lifelong well-being.
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Harry Harlow. Harry Frederick Harlow (October 31, 1905 - December 6, 1981) was an American psychologist best known for his maternal-separation, dependency needs, and social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys, which manifested the importance of caregiving and companionship to social and cognitive development.
In Harlow's experiment, baby monkeys preferred a soft, cloth "mother" over a wire one, even when the wire "mother" provided food. This demonstrated the importance of comfort and affection in attachment, beyond just basic needs like nourishment.
Based on this observation, Harlow designed his now-famous surrogate mother experiment. In this study, Harlow took infant monkeys from their biological mothers and gave them two inanimate surrogate mothers: one was a simple construction of wire and wood, and the second was covered in foam rubber and soft terry cloth.
We briefly explore attachment theory by looking at Harlow's monkey experiments, and how those findings relate to human behavior & attachment styles.
The pit of despair was a name used by American comparative psychologist Harry Harlow for a device he designed, technically called a vertical chamber apparatus, that he used in experiments on rhesus macaque monkeys at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the 1970s. [2] The aim of the research was to produce an animal model of depression.
Harry Harlow was one of the first psychologists to scientifically investigate the nature of human love and affection. Through a series of controversial monkey mother experiments, Harlow was able to demonstrate the importance of early attachments, affection, and emotional bonds in the course of healthy development.
The Harlow Monkey Experiments represent a landmark in the study of attachment and developmental psychology. Through his innovative and, at times, controversial research, Harry Harlow unveiled the fundamental importance of emotional and social bonds in early development. The experiments challenged conventional wisdom, demonstrating that the need ...
Harry Frederick Harlow (1905-1981) was an American psychologist best known for his maternal-separation, dependency needs, and social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys. This has manifested the importance of caregiving and companionship to social and cognitive development.
The Harlow Monkey Experiment, conducted by psychologist Harry Harlow in 1958, was a groundbreaking study that investigated the importance of maternal care and social relationships in primate development. Aim: The Harlow Monkey Experiment aimed to explore the effects of maternal separation and social isolation on infant monkeys' psychological ...
These monkey love experiments had powerful implications for any and all separations of mothers and infants, including adoption, as well as childrearing in general. In his University of Wisconsin laboratory, Harlow probed the nature of love, aiming to illuminate its first causes and mechanisms in the relationships formed between infants and ...
In the mid-20th century, Harry Harlow conducted cruel experiments on baby rhesus monkeys to prove that the bond between mother and child went far beyond the need for food. University of Wisconsin-Madison Harry Harlow with one of the rhesus monkeys and its surrogate cloth "mother.". Harry Harlow was fascinated with the idea of love.
Harry Harlow shows that infant rhesus monkeys appear to form an affectional bond with soft, cloth surrogate mothers that offered no food but not with wire su...
Harlow's Monkey experiments looked at the influence of parental guidance and interaction during early development. Infant monkeys were placed in isolation, away from their mothers. In other experiments, he took infant monkeys away from their mothers but placed them in a cage with "surrogate" mothers. In both sets of experiments, he found ...
Intrigued by the monkeys' behavior Harlow created his now world-famous surrogate monkey mothers made of cloth and put them next to surrogate mothers made of metal wire, the latter ones providing milk through a feeding bottle.
The study of monkeys by Harlow and Zimmermann (1959) and direct observation by Bowlby in orphanages suggests that infants needed emotional support with food and shelter (Radetzki et al., 2018).
Harlow's experiments provided empirical proof that primary attachment bonds are vital to a developing creature. Contact comfort plays a much more important r...
Learn about Harry Harlow's monkey experiment, and theory of attachment. Also, learn how the Harry Harlow theory has influenced understanding of...
Why "Harlow's Monkey?". In the 1950's, psychologist Harry Harlow began a series of experiments on baby monkeys, depriving them of their biological mothers and using substitute wire and terry cloth covered "mothers". Harlow's goal was to study the nature of attachment and how it affects monkeys who were deprived of their mothers ...
Harlow's Monkey experiment reinforced the importance of mother-and-child bonding. Harlow suggested that the same results apply to human babies - that the timing is critical when it comes to separating a child from his or her mother. Harlow believed that it is at 90 days for monkeys, and about 6 months for humans.
Harlow's monkey experiments proved a pivotal turning point in animal research, scientific ethics, and our understanding of primate attachment.
Harlow separated infant monkeys from their biological mothers to observe their attachment behaviors with surrogate mothers made out of metal and cloth. The monkeys were exposed to the surrogates in varying degrees. Harlow and his team also isolated the primates for different periods of time to measure their psychological development. Unsurprisingly, the longer the monkeys were separated from ...
Harlow's Rhesus Monkey Experiments Harlow's experiments provided empirical proof that primary attachment bonds are vital to a developing creature. Contact comfort plays a much more important role in the mother-child relationship than sustenance does. Furthermore, there's a time limit for when such bonds need to be forged without causing permanent emotional, mental, and social issues.