fm.lin!
Peork6
0ru.nizdticrs
fttollsr SMies/
Scien.
Rdodioo
Ta0ic5
in
fd.0tion islo.u
Fsr er
R..diru
0.trnc
nrchhrca
HarryF, Harlow,MonkeyLove Experiments
The famousexperimentsthat psychologistHarryHarlow
conductedin the 1950son maternaldeprivationin.hesus
monkeyswerelandmarksnot only in primatology,but jn the
evolvin9scienceofattachmentand loss.Barlowhimself
repeatedlycomparedhis experimentalsubjects
to childrenand
pressreportsuniveBdllytreatedhis nndhgs as ma)or
statementsabout love and develogmentin humanbeings,
Thesemonkeylove experimentshad powerfulimplicationsfor
any and allseparationsof mothersand infants,including
adoption,as well as childrearingin gen€ral,
llarry Hadow w th the mother suftoqates
he used to raise infant monk€ys. The t€rry
cloth mother is plotued above.Ihe bare
Giv€na chorce,mfant monkeys invanaby
pr€ter€d surogate moth€.s covered wilh
eft terry cloth, and they spent a gcat d€al
of t me cuddlingwith them (above),just as
th€y would have wrth their rea mothers
In his UniveBit of wisconsinlaboratory,Harlowpmbedthe
natureof love,aimingto illuminatetts first caus€sand
fo.med betweeni.fants and
mechanismsin the relationships
motheE, FiEt, he shosedthat motherlove was €motional
the adoptionfriendly
ratherthan physiological,
substantiatinq
theorythat continuityofere- nurtue"-was a far more
dete.minin9factor in healthypsychological
deveJopmentthan
*nature."Second,he showedthat capacityfor attachmentwas
closelyassociat€dwith critlcalperiodsh early life, after whichlt
was dificult or impossrble
to compensatefor the lossof initial
emotionals€curity,
The cnticalperiodthesls@nfirrnedthe
parentsas shortlyafter
wisdomof pla.ing infantswith adoptave
barthas possible,Harlow'swork prcvidedexpe.imentalevidence
forprioritizingpsychological
ov€r biologicalparenthoodwhile
underliningthe developmental
risksofadoptingchlldrenbeyond
infancy.It norhalizedand pathologized
adoptionat the same
Howdid Harlow9o about€onstructin9his scienceof love?He
*parated jnfant monkeysfrom their mothersa f€w hoursafter
birth,then arrangedfor the younganimalsto be"raised"by two
kindsofsurroqatemonkeymother machines/bothequippedto
dispensemilk. Onemotherwas madeout of barewire meshThe other was a wire mother.overedwith soft terry cloth,
Ha.low'sfi6t obsedationwas that monkeyswho had a choce
of mothersspentfar moretime clingingto the terry cloth
surrcgates,evenwhentheir physiel nou.ishmentcamefrom
boftlesmountedon the barewi.e mothers.This suggestedthat
infanttovewas no simpleresponseto the satisfactionof
physiological
needs,Attachmentwas not primarilyabout hunger
Sit€
l|l[
or thirst, lt €ouldnot be reducedto nuEing.
then Harlowmodifiedhis experimentand madea second
importantobservation,Whenhe sepa.atedthe infantsinto two
groupsand gavethem no choicebetweenthe two typesof
mothers,allthe monkeysdrank equalamountsand grew
physicallyat the sameEte. But the similaritiesend€dthere,
Monkeyswho had soft, tactileconta€lwithth€ir terry ctoth
moth€F behavedquite ditrerentlythan monkeyswhosemotheE
were madeout of cold,hardwire, Harlowhypothesjzed
that
membeBofthe fi6t groupbenefttedfrom a psychological
r€source-emotionalattachment-unavailable
to membersof
the seco.d. By providingreassurance
and securityto infants/
cuddlingk€pt normaldevelopmenton track.
what exactlydid Harlowsee that convincedhim emotional
attachmentmadea decisivedevelopmentaldifference?
When
the experimentalsublects
wer€fright€nedby st.ange,loud
objects,suchas teddy beaE beatingdrums, monteys raisedby
terry clothsurrcgatesmade bodilycontactwith their motheE,
rubbedagainstlhem, and eventuallycalmeddown.Harlow
theorizedthat they risedtheir moth€E as a "psychological
base
of op€ratbns,"allowingthem to remainplaytuland inquisitrv€
after the initialfright had subsided,h contrast,monkeysraised
by wire m*h surrogatesdld not.etr€atto their motheE when
scared.lnstead,they threw themselveson the aioor,clutched
themselves,rockedbackand forth, and screamedin terrcr.
Thes€actavities
closelyr€sembledthe behaviorsof autisticand
deprivedchildrenfrequentlyobsed€d in institutionsas werras
the pathological
behaviorof adultsconfinedto mental
institutions,Hanownot€d,The aweeme powerofattachment
and lossover mentalhealthand
couldhardlyhavebeen
perfomed mo.€ dramatically. 'llness
In subsequent€xperiments,Harlow'smo.keys provedthat
"b€tt€r late than n€ver"was not a sloganapplicableto
attachment,when Harlowplacedhis subjectsin total isolation
for the fi6t eightsmonthsof life, denyingthem contactwith
other infantsor with eithertype ofsurrogatemother,they were
permanentlydamaqed,Ha.lowand his colleaguesrepeated
theseexperiments,s!bjecttnginfant monkeysio variedperiods
of mothe.lessn€ss,
Theyconcludedrhar rhe impactof ea.ly
mate.naldeprivationcolld be .eversedin monkeysonly if it had
lastedlessthan 90 days,and estimatedthat the equivalentfor
humanswas six months.Aft€r the* criticalpeiods, no amount
of exposureto mothersor peerscouldalterthe monkeys
abnomal behavioGand makeup for the emotlonaldamage
that had alreadyoc€lrred. Wre" emotionalbondswere fi6t
estnblished
was th€ key to wherterthey couldbe establish€dat
Forexpenmentalists
like Harlow,onty devetopmentat
theories
verifiedunde..ontrolledlaboratoryconditionsdeseded to be
calledscientific,Harlowwas no Freudian,He criticized
psychoanalysrs
for epeculatrng
on th€ basrsoffau'iy memo.ies,
assuminqthat adult disordersnecessarily
originatedin
and interpretingtoo literallythe
childhoodexperiences,
Yet Harlow'sdata confirmedthe
slgnifican€e
of br€ast-feeding.
psychoanalytic
well known
emphasison th€ mother-child
relationshioatthe dawnof life, and his researchreflectedthe
repudiat'onof eugenicsand the triumphoftherapeutic
app.oachesah€adyw€ll und€Mayth.oughoutthe human
sciencesand clinicalprcfessionsby midcentury,
includingAnnaFreud
Alongwith childanalystsand .esearchers,
and Ren€SpiE, Harry Harlow'sexperinentsadde{ scientific
legltima.yto two powerfulargumentsragainstinstitltionalchild
parenthood,Bothsuggsted
careand in favorof psychological
that the perman€nce
assoctated
wjth adopion was farsuperior
the future
to othe. arrangementswhen it cameto safeguarding
m€ntalandemotionalwell-beingorchildrenin needof parents.
DocumentExcerpt
Ha.ry F. Harlow, "Love in Infant Monkeys," 1959
'
Lu1l' e|ead' r q by a. d aboJ r H d r D H d l o w
T melineI Peopleand Organizatrons
I Adoptionstldies/AdoptionScience
Topicsin Adoptiontlistory I FurtherReadinqI DocumentArchivesI sit€ lndex I Home I Search
Pale Updat.d:7-1r'2007
sne desiqned
bY:
to l€m Eorc rb.ut flr. AdoDdon Hi.to.y F@ject' pl€at. 6nb.t
Departmntof Hlstory,univeEityof oregon
Eusene,
Oreson97403-1234
(541)3.16-3113
E-mail:adopnon@uoreqon
edu
Aborttl,e Pfojedandthe Althor