Harlow - Animal Studies.
AO1
Animals studies are experiments carried out on animals instead of humans, this can be because its unethical to test on humans, it's also harder to gain consent and practically, animals breed faster so we can study genetics faster.
Harry Harlow was an American psychologist, born October 31, 1905 – December 6, 1981. Best known for his controversial work on Rhesus Monkeys, which showed the importance of care-giving within these monkeys.
Harlow’s work included 16 baby Rhesus monkeys which were deprived from their mothers at birth. He kept these monkeys individual in cages so they had no form of interaction with one another.
He constructed two wired models of a monkey which dispensed milk out of a bottle, however one of these monkeys had a soft warm blanket over and one which was left plain with the wires on show.
Monkeys were individually placed into the cage with the two models, each monkey showed the same results. When the monkey was hungry they went to the one which dispensed the milk however when startled or scared the monkeys would always go to the comforting model with the soft warm blanket. The monkeys would stay on the clothed mothers up to 22 hours a day, only leaving to feed.
These findings show that ‘contact-comfort’ is more important than food for the monkeys and that attachment does not develop due to being fed but due to the fact of providing comfort.
AO2 Can this relate back to humans?
Even though we are humans and monkeys are monkeys, we do have similar characteristics to monkeys (such as brain structure and our need for social interaction) which can be supported by the evolutionary theory. However in the wild, monkeys cling to their mothers for survival and protection, this may suggest that they don’t do it for love and comfort. If this is correct then Harlow’s theories cannot be applied to humans.
Harlow's research highlights the real-world applications to social workers who need to notice signs of neglect in children and how to prevent it.
AO3 Ethical issues
Harlow's research was incredibly unethical due to the treatment of the Rhesus monkeys, a very social animal.
Harlow followed the same monkeys into their adult life where they were able to interact with other monkeys again, although it seemed that the 16 monkeys had bad social skills and showed aggression and violence towards the other monkeys, due to maternal deprivation.
He also noticed that they bred less less often and any young they had were neglected or sometimes even killed as the mother hadn't developed an internal working model, a template for future relationships.
Harlow realised the pain he caused towards the monkeys and even called the wired models ‘iron maidens’ after a medieval torture device, although it was later known that Harlow was experiencing depression and reflected this in his later work.
This research shows that an attachment has to be made within 90 days, known as a critical period, this is irreversible and has many developmental consequences. Bowlby supports the idea of a critical period.
Harlow's findings helped improve zoo facilities including the treatment of captive monkeys and breeding programmes.
