Harry Harlow's Experiment Summary

GOAL
Harry Harlow, an American Psychologist, was developing the Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus to study aspects of mental processes of primates. As he developed his tests, he realized the monkeys he was working with were “learning new strategies around his initial tests” (article 2). Harlow was very confused as to why this was occurring, so he decided to study developing primates away from their biological mothers in a nursing setting and examine the premature behaviors and relationships developed between a mother and infant. The articles I chose peaked my attention because of the variety of information they both had. They were also from very reliable websites so I knew the information was correct.
PARTICIPANTS, MATERIALS, AND PROCEDURE
The monkeys were more affectionate and cuddled the machine that offered more comfort. It didn’t matter that they got milk from both, but the one that supported the monkey physically created a stronger bond. In the second experiment when the monkeys were separated and placed with an individual mother, subjects were frightened by loud noises. The monkeys that were placed with the terry cloth mother made “bodily contact” (article 1) which eventually helped them calm down. The monkeys that were placed by wire mothers, after being scared by the noises, comforted themselves by screaming and crying. For these experiments, Harlow concluded that the bond between mother and child is not based on the mother’s ability to supply the infant with its needs, but the way the mother comforts the child. The infants that grew up with a nurturing mother had a normal lifestyle. Harlow then tested the “better late than never” (article 1) tactic by placing the monkeys with no mother for the first eight months of their lives. The monkeys were permanently damaged. Harlow concluded that the impact of early necessities given by a mother could be reversed if that child has lasted ninety days or less