AAQ Discovering Love - Harlow and Attachment

Discovering Love: Summary of Harlow’s Research

Introduction

Harry Harlow’s groundbreaking study on attachment explored the nature of love and attachment in infant rhesus monkeys. Harlow hypothesized that emotional comfort and security, rather than just physiological needs like feeding, form the basis of attachment.  This study remains a cornerstone of attachment theory, despite ethical concerns, and has informed both psychology and childcare practices.

Participants

The study used infant rhesus monkeys separated from their biological mothers shortly after birth. These monkeys were housed individually in a laboratory environment with access to surrogate mothers.

Method

The monkeys were placed in an environment with two types of surrogate mothers:

A wire mother that provided food through an attached bottle and a cloth mother that provided no food but was covered in soft terry cloth. 

The monkeys were observed under various conditions, including stressful situations (e.g., a loud mechanical toy) to determine their preference for the surrogate mothers.   Harlow measured the time spent clinging to or seeking comfort from a surrogate mother throughout the day, including during times of stress.

Results

Harlow found that the monkeys spent significantly more time with the cloth mother (approximately 17-18 hours per day) than with the wire mother (less than 1 hour per day), regardless of which mother provided food.  That is over 90% of the total time spent with the surrogate mothers.

Below is a visual representation of the time spent with each surrogate mother:

 Citations

Harlow, H. F., & Zimmerman, R. R. (1959). Affectional responses in the infant monkey. Science, 130(3373), 421-432.

Hock, R. R. (2005). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of psychological research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Identify the research method used in the study.

State the operational definition of the dependent variable.

Describe the meaning of the differences in the means for the time spent with each surrogate mother.

Identify at least one ethical guideline applied or not applied by the researchers

Explain the extent to which the research findings may or may not be generalizable using specific and relevant evidence from the study.

Explain how at least one of the research findings supports or refutes the researchers’ hypothesis.