Harry Harlow

Picture: Harry Harlow & Rhesus Monkey

Born: October 31, 1905
Died: December 6, 1981

Source:
Education: Harry Harlow attended colleges Reed College and later studied at Stanford University as an English major. When Harlow discovered English wasn't the field of study for him, he switched to psychology.

Once Harlow received his PhD in psychology he became a teacher at the University of Milwaukee-Madison where he began conducting his social isolation experiments.

Experiments: wire monkey vs cloth monkey
Picture: Wire Mother vs. Cloth Mother
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During his experiment of  separating rhesus monkeys from their biological mothers he replaced them for wire and cloth mothers to see which they would prefer. In this experiment Harlow discovered that although the cloth monkey did not feed the young monkey, the young monkey preferred the cloth mother over the wire mother that provided food. He proved that the young monkeys would rather have comfort over being fed.

Harlow furthered his experiment with the rhesus monkeys to isolating one monkey completely and the other partially. The monkey that was completely isolated resulted in wild activity later resulting in death.

My Thoughts on Harlow: I thought that Harry Harlow's experiment on the rhesus monkeys were accurate. He proved that mammals would rather be comforted than fed showing that love is very important in the basic needs for living.