Animal studies of Attachment (Harlow) (2)

Harlow (1958) contact comfort procedure (1)

Harry Harlow reared 16 baby rhesus monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’

 

Group 1 = milk was dispensing by the “plain wire mother”

Group 2 = milk was dispensed by the “cloth covered mother”

 

The monkeys' preferences where measured

Harlow (1958) contact comfort procedure (2)

• To measure attachment-like behaviour, Harlow observed how the monkeys reacted when placed in frightening situations. Harlow added a noisy mechanical teddy bear the to environment

• Harlow and his colleagues also continue to study the monkeys who had been deprived of their “real” mother into adulthood

Harlow’s (1958) findings and conclusions (1)

Baby monkeys cuddled the cloth covered mother in preference to the plain wire mother regardless which dispensed milk

 

This suggests that the contact comfort was of more importance than food when it came to attachment behaviour

Harlow’s (1958) findings and conclusions (2)

Time spent with each mother was observed/ recorded, which mother they proffered

 

• The monkeys sought comfort from the cloth covered mother when frightened

• As adults, the monkeys who had been deprived of their real mothers suffered severe consequences - they where more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled in mating than other monkeys

A03 - research has helped social workers understand depression and parenting

The research has helped psychologists and social workers understand that depression and parenting difficulty may be rooted in poor early bonding experiences (White)

 

We also better understand the needs of infant primates in zoos

 

This means that Harlows research is not just theoretical but practical

A03 - limitations of generalising from monkeys to humans

Monkeys are clearly more like humans than Lorenz’s geese and mammals share some similarities in their attachment system

 

However, the human brain is still more complex than that of monkeys

 

This means that it may be appropriate to generalise Harlows findings to humans.

Monkeys are closer to humans than a gosling but humans much mire complicated brains, humans are more emotionally complex.