Harlow’s Surrogate Mothers
Isolation Experiment
Surrogate Mothers Experiment
• The purpose of the Surrogate Mother
experiments was to determine whether “love”
was influenced by nutrition or comfort.
• To study the relationships formed between
infants and mothers and what causes love.
Who Was Involved?
• Harry Harlow – Was a psychologist who was
infatuated with what makes people “love” and
if we choose nutrition over comfort.
• John Bowlby – Wrote an essay that inspired
this experiment. It discussed
institutionalization of children.
What Happened?
• The monkeys were taken from their mother and introduced to
the surrogates a few hours after birth.
• They were placed in an unfamiliar room with the two
surrogate mothers, one covered in terrycloth and another
made of wire mesh.
What Happened cont.
• They also did testing through measures of
fear. The “Monster” test was the most popular
method they used.
• The main result of this test showed that the
monkeys preferred comfort over nutrition.
“Monster” Test
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg9QCeA4FJs
Isolation Partial/Complete
• Another experiment conducted by Harry
Harlow was the Isolation Experiment. Where
he took monkeys that were 3 months old and
put them in cages from 6 months to 15 years.
• There were two forms of this experiment: The
Partial Isolation Experiment and The Complete
Isolation Experiment. Both being just as
terrible as the other.
Partial Experiment
• The Partial Isolation involved raising monkey
in cages however they were allowed to see,
smell and hear other monkeys, however they
were not allowed physical interactions with
them.
Partial Isolation Results
• Harlow observed that the monkeys developed
abnormalities such as blank staring, circling
within their cages, and self-mutilation.
Total Isolation Experiment
• This experiment was similar. However the
monkeys were put in cages, in the dark with
absolutely no contact at all. This made them
psychologically disturbed.
Total Isolation Results
• Harlow wrote down his observations: “No monkey has died
during isolation. When initially removed from total social
isolation, however, they usually go into a state of emotional
shock, characterized by ... autistic self-clutching and rocking.
One of six monkeys isolated for 3 months refused to eat after
release and died 5 days later. The autopsy report attributed
death to emotional anorexia. ... The effects of 6 months of
total social isolation were so devastating and debilitating that
we had assumed initially that 12 months of isolation would
not produce any additional decrement. This assumption
proved to be false; 12 months of isolation almost obliterated
the animals socially …”
What changed Psychology/Animal
Rights?
• These experiments provided huge insight into
what makes us love and that is being
comfortable. They also gave us a look into the
field of depression.
• With the atrocities committed during this
experiment, people started to finally look at
Animal Rights in a new light.