By: Meagan Lilley. Was born on October 31, 1905 Originally named Harry Israel Grew up in Fairfield, Iowa Family was poor Spent a year at Reed College.

By: Meagan Lilley

Harry Harlow

Was born on October 31, 1905Originally named Harry IsraelGrew up in Fairfield, Iowa Family was poorSpent a year at Reed College in Portland,

OregonGot into Stanford University on a special

aptitude test.

Harry Harlow

Harry HarlowSpent a semester as an English major but then changed to Psychology

Studied under Lewis Terman, who helped shape Harlow’s future

Terman is also the one who advised Harry to change his last nameHarlow took his

father’s middle name

Harlow married Clara MearsTerman’s daughter

They had two children, which Clara took when she left him for being a “workaholic”

He accepted a job as a professor at the University of Wisconsinpersuaded the University to construct a

Primate LaboratoryHis second wife, Peggy Kuenne, was a

colleague in child psychology and together they had two children

Harry Harlow

Understanding LoveHarlow's motivation for his

research was to understand love

The maternal bond between mother and child was thought to begin through feeding

Beginning in 1957, Harlow began to investigate the nature of this bond

He removed infant rhesus monkeys from their mothers six to twelve hours after birth and raised them instead with surrogate mothers made either of wire or of wood covered with cloth

First group = No food from Terrycloth Mother. Food from Wire Mother

Second group = Food from terrycloth mother. No food from Wire Mother

Even when the wire mother was the source of food and warmth, the infant monkey spent a greater amount of time clinging to the cloth surrogate

These results led researchers to believe the need for closeness and affection goes deeper than a need for warmth

Who’s Your Mama?

The monkeys ran to the cloth mother for protection and comfort, no matter which mother provided them with food.

Monkeys placed in an unfamiliar room without their cloth mothers would freeze in fear and cry, crouch down low, or suck their thumbs

Monkeys placed in this situation with wire mothers showed the same behavior as the monkeys with no mother

Once the monkeys could eat solid foods, they were taken from their “mothers” for 3 days

When reunited, the monkeys tended not to venture off to explore as they usually did, but clung to their “mothers”Harlow claimed that the need for contact and

comfort was stronger than the need to exploreEven though the monkeys gained weight at

the same rate, the monkeys with wire “mothers” had trouble with digestion

Harlow realized that touch was not enough, and his "ideal mother" was inadequate

When the now adult monkeys were introduced to normal monkeys they were extremely anti-socialDisplayed autistic-like behavior, banging their

heads and rocking.They were also unable to mate normally

“Rape Racks”“Motherless Mothers”

Results

The results contradicted the teachings of this time and the claim of the behaviorist school of psychology

Harlow concluded that nursing strengthened the mother-child bond because of the intimate body contact that it provided

Believed that contact comfort could be provided by either mother or father

He presented his results

Results Continued

Partial IsolationMonkeys were

raised in bare wire cages

Able to see, smell, and hear other monkeys, but no physical contact

Resulted in blank staring, repetitive circling in their cages, and self-mutilation

monkeys were raised in isolation chambers

No contact at all with other monkeys.

“Pit of despair”Baby monkeys were left

alone for 3, 6, 12, or 24 weeks

Resulted in severely psychologically disturbed monkeys

Partial and Total Social IsolationTotal Social

Isolation

Harlow tried to restore the monkeys who had been isolated for six months by placing them with normal monkeysNot successful

Total social isolation for the first six months of life produced severe deficits in nearly every aspect of social behavior

The monkeys that were isolated and then exposed to monkeys the same age who were reared normally were able to only obtain limited recovery of simple social responses

Results

Some monkey mothers reared in isolation showed maternal behavior that was acceptable when forced to receive infant contact over a period of monthsbut showed no further recovery afterwards.

Surprisingly, when six-month isolates were exposed to younger monkeys around three months old, they were able to pretty much complete social recovery for all the situations tested.

Results continued

Some researchers claim Harlow’s experiments as factors in the rise of the animal liberation movement

The results of his work confirmed that human beings need more than just simple physical needs, like hungerwe are social beings, seeking the warmth and

comfort of touch, and the company of othersSuggested the importance of mother/child

bondingChildren need to feel love, acceptance, and

affection from the caregiver.He did not regret doing the experiments

http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/harlow.htm

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Harry_Harlow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harlow

Sources