Harlowe - Rhesus monkey study Flashcards
What was the aim of Harlow’s study?
To investigate whether attachments were primarily formed through food as explained by the learning theory or through comfort.
What was the procedure of Harlow’s study?
16 monkeys separated from mothers at birth and put in a cage with access to a mother made of wire and a mother made from cloth. They were studied for 165 days.
Monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test mother preference during stress and put in large cage to test degree of exploration.
What were the 4 conditions in Harlow’s study?
Wire mother that produced milk and cloth mother that produced no milk
Cloth mother produced milk and wire mother produced no milk
Placed only with wire mother producing milk
Placed only with cloth mother producing milk
What were the results of Harlow’s study?
Infants would only go to wire mother when hungry, then they would go back to cloth.
Monkeys with only cloth mother would have diarrhoea
The infant would take refuge with the wire mother when scared
Infant would explore more when the cloth mother was present
17-18 hours with cloth mother, 1 hour with wire mother.
What is the conclusion of Harlow’s study?
Showed sensitivity is more important than food. Monkeys must have something to cling to in their first months of life. In adulthood, monkeys did not treat their infants right.
Is Harlow’s study generalisable?
Mammals have same brain structure as human, only difference is number of connections. Both altricial species.
Is Harlow’s study reliable?
Highly controlled standardised procedures. 4 conditions plus loud noise and scary toys.
Does Harlow’s study have practical applications?
Comfort over food lead to parenting classes to respond to children’s emotional needs
Does Harlow’s study have ecological validity?
Cloth mother and wire mother is not a situation that normally happens.
Does Harlow’s study have ethical issues?
Suffered psychological harm and they did not know how to raise their own young.
