Harlow took newborn baby monkey from their mothers. He then gave them he option to be with a plastic cloth covered monkey, with a light bulb for heat or a cold wire monkey with a bottle of milk attached. They choose the warm, comforting monkey each time and only went to the wire monkey when they where hungry, returning to the cloth monkey straight after they have fed. This had bad socialisation affects on the monkeys, as they where brought up with no love or care, the monkeys became scared and confused.
contact comfort
that being abused by their parents as baby moneys caused them to act strangly as adult monkeys
rhesus monkeys
Harry Harlow, an American psychologist, conducted research on maternal deprivation and social isolation in rhesus monkeys. He found that monkeys preferred a soft, comforting surrogate mother over one that provided food, demonstrating the importance of social contact and comfort in early development.
Harry Harlow was an American psychologist best know for studying the effects of isolation on macaque and rhesus monkeys. In these controversial experiments Harlow removed infant monkeys from their mothers and denied them physical contact with other monkeys for up to two years.
Harlow's research suggested the importance of mother/child bonding. Not only does the child look to his/her mother for basic needs such as food, safety, and warmth, but he also needs to feel love, acceptance, and affection from the caregiver.
Harry Harlow
They DID NOT show abnormal physical development.
Harry and Margaret Harlow conducted experiments using infant rhesus monkeys to study social isolation and maternal attachment. They found that the monkeys preferred a soft cloth surrogate mother over a wire one that provided food, highlighting the importance of comfort and warmth in attachment relationships. Their studies revolutionized understanding of the role of early maternal care in emotional development.
There were ethical and practical reasons why Harlow could not use humans in experiments to identify the nature of attachment between human infants and their mothers. Animals were not protected by the same guidelines on ethics. Therefore, Harlow could use monkeys in his experiments. The macaques are close to humans in evolutionary terms and in many behavioural traits so Harlow could gain insight which could transfer to human models.
Contact Comfort
They are based on comfort and touch
They are based on comfort and touch