Harry Frederick (Israel) Harlow Harry Harlow (1905-1981) Harry Frederick (Israel) Harlow “If monkeys have taught us anything, it’s that you’ve got to learn how to love before you learn how to live.” -Harry Harlow This Week, March 3, 1961

1967 National Medal of Science Revolutionized Child Care Primate Studies Maternal Separation Dependency Social Isolation President of APA “The Nature of Love” 1958 1967 National Medal of Science Revolutionized Child Care Published Works The Human Model From Learning to Love Used as leverage for mother love studies; Speech scolding psych for not studying love; Only primatologist to ever win medal;

Harry Frederick Israel Born October 31, 1905 Fairfield, IA

Parents Alonzo Harlow Israel Wanted to be a doctor Inventor Garage and Battery Business Mable Rock Harlow Bought a general store No church Wanted children to be more successful than them; parents lived for their children; wanted Harry to marry rich girl; No Episcopalians in area

Family 1 of 4 boys Robert, Delmer, Harry, Hugh Most competitive All attended Stanford University Delmer diagnosed with Pott’s Disease Moved to New Mexico Harry only one to graduate Stanford; Pott’s disease=tuberculosis of the spine; lost everything in a flood; Moved back to IA to start over

Young Harry Bored by science Hated idea of agriculture Daydreamer, Artist, Poet Ranked highest in class on aptitude test 13th of 71 overall in high school class; read poem pg 16

Stanford English major Freshman year Took notes in verse Influenced by: Calvin Stone: Animal Behaviorist Walter Miles: Vision Expert; Rat Research Lewis Terman: Stanford Binet IQ Test Took zoology but quit b/c couldn’t stand dissection; called working with rats rodentology; difficulty pronouncing R’s

Name Change Influenced by Lewis Terman Took father’s middle name as last name Advice to avoid prejudice Avoid Jewish prejudice even though Harry not Jewish due to last name Israel

Zeitgeist Telegraph Telephone Electricity in homes Automobiles WWII Electric household appliances; children sent away from parents for protection

Zeitgeist Love not subject of Psychology Loving interaction between parents and children discouraged B.F. Skinner Baby tender G. Stanley Hall Strict discipline for adolescents Bad behavior caused by bad parenting Punish more, cuddle less Psych not seen as a science; baby tender=box so don’t have to touch baby except to bathe & scheduled rec time; Emotions unnecessary/unimportant; sentimental nature = defect

Zeitgeist J. B. Watson Scientific standards for parenting Babies only feel rage, fear, and love National Congress of Mothers Raising a Baby the Government Way-Molly Ladd-Taylor Arnold Gesell No adopting young children No playing w/ baby; A.G. believed genes determine all, don’t adopt until older to see if something wrong with child

Changing Times Rene Spitz & James Robertson Filmed how children were treated in hospitals and orphanages Foundling home v Women’s Prison Harry Bawkin, William Goldfarb, David Levy, Loretta Bender Studied need for love/nurture Kids broken after time in hospitals/orphanages; Kids in prison turned out healthier than foundling home; not persuasive like HH

Changing Times William Goldfarb Wealthy families’ children to orphanages Poor families’ children to foster homes Genetics would say that children in orphanages would be more intelligent than children in foster homes Not the case; finally made some people second guess current standards of parenting; slap in the face to child welfare

First Job 1930 UW-Madison Assistant Professorship $2750/yr Discouraged by Terman b/c shyness and speech impediment

“They expected to place me in a California junior college, and with every Wisconsin winter, I wish to God they had.”

First Job 4 Psychology Faculty 3 PhD Students Basement of Administrative Building Made fun of by students Intolerance of difference normal Teased for impediment; used puns in class to combat nervousness; called retard/moron/etc

First Experiments Rat studies Pavlov-esque experiment conditioning cats Conditioning frogs Failure ended up in newspaper 1st “claim to fame” Idea for primate subjects over game of bridge Kicked out of building for rat smell; electric shock but stopped cats b/c one escaped; wasting tax money on seeing if frogs smarter than scientists

Clara Mears One of Harry’s students In gifted program More than friends Married May 7, 1932 Robert Mears Harlow born November 16, 1939 Richard Frederick Harlow born December 10, 1942 Had to give up psych career b/c wouldn’t hire spouses; became dress buyer for department store

Jiggs & Tommy 1st Primate Experiment Children’s games as puzzles Shaped holes puzzle 2nd Experiment Bad temper Finding food under cups Orangutan; Died 1 yr later; baboon; crush on female student & behaved whenever she was there

Abraham Maslow Harlow’s 1st Graduate Student Doctoral dissertation on hierarchy of relationships in primates Ruler and Serf pattern Monkeys read body language; using sex to assert power

The Makings of Goon Park 1932 approved to build outdoor cages “Accidentally” turned into a building Reprimanded for building without permission Gandhi the Spider Monkey ate at dinner table Allowed poor students to live there in exchange for work 1933 appeared on campus map Explain goon park; EC for football players to help; not in trouble bc borrowed monkey to university pres;

“When we were finished, we were horrified to see how much these Outdoor Observation Cages looked like real buildings!”

Marriage Issues Clara filed divorce August 14, 1946 Finalized September 6, 1946 Clara granted custody of both sons Moved to Rhode Island to live with her brother Split everything else 50/50; she took none of his belongings

Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA) Cube shaped cage One side opened for primates to solve puzzles New puzzles Treats under colored cups Difficulty progressed Monkeys can analyze relationships between colors and shapes Half-brained monkeys Reusing same monkeys=monkeys learn faster; advocate against rapid disposal of research animals; depended on tray/patterns/shape; Kurt Goldstein soldiers w brain damage thought couldn’t learn

Margaret Kuenne Fellow researcher Eloped in Iowa to avoid her losing her job Married February 3, 1948 Two Children Pamela Jonathan Attracted to HH’s intelligence; proving psych as science; eventually had to quit job but still allowed to edit HH’s papers

New Lab Early 1950’s Old cheese factory Recruited students to renovate “Diplomas in Curiosity” Students could use lab for whatever they wanted;

Monkey Business Breeding monkeys Diseased monkeys caused for parents’ deaths Orphaned monkeys would not socialize Diet or disease? Babies would not eat Clung to cloth in their cages Interest in mother love developed Baby monkeys choosing comfort over food; Students initially uninterested

Contact Comfort Experiment Cloth Mother vs Wire Mother Comfort vs Food Babies choose cloth mother Reach to wire mother for food Immediately go to cloth mother when frightened Wire mother translates to cold parenting (feed but don’t play or hold); spent equal time with both regardless of who provided food; no time w/ wire mom if cloth had food https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I

Issues/ New Ideas Wire mom’s babies very dysfunctional Cloth mom’s babies still dysfunctional Hug, but never hugged Attention shift to give and take of relationships Seymour Levine experiment with rats Overprotection from parent creates rats that cannot function in adult life Babies need interaction and interest to develop properly Baby rats handled by scientists for certain amount of time turned out better; mild trauma/stress caused prep for life experiences

Warmth, Movement, and Play Hot vs Warm vs Cold Mother Despised cold mother Swinging vs Rocking vs Stationary Mother More movement/interaction=better development Rough play vs Tag Taught social skills Learned nonverbal communication When enough is enough, boundaries, good sportsmanship, pleasure in company of others

Peggy Kuenne Harlow Contributed to Harry’s experiments and conducted her own Diagnosed with breast cancer 1967 1971 finally made Professor of Educational Psychology at UW- Madison Died August 11, 1971 HH’s alcoholism worsened; research hit home bc preparing for loss in family

Isolation Babies isolated for 6 months-1 year Could not see out of their cage When removed: Lifeless Starved to death if not force fed Attacked by others because of timidity Had children Apathetic Killed and maimed their children HH interested bc loss of Margaret plunged him into depression and alcoholism; struggle w/ success seeing it as “I can only go down from here”; experiment didn’t result in depression only antisocial

The Pit of Despair (1962) Vertical Chamber Apparatus First few days attempted escape Learned Helplessness Lifelong impact after only half of a week Finally created depression in monkeys

Repairing the Damage Social Remedy Re-paired with cloth mom 30 minute playdate 5 days a week Study duplicated with living mother No significant difference between groups Increased positive effects with increased playtime HH always tried to find remedy when he created pain in primates

Repairing the Damage Baby Therapists Monkey See, Monkey Do Isolated monkeys paired with normally developed baby Baby would cuddle older monkey until older monkey felt safe Isolated monkeys could return to normal life Worked for 6 month isolates, not for 1 year isolates Monkey See, Monkey Do For 1 year isolates See other monkeys interacting before real socialization Eventually paired with “baby therapist” Success! Absolutely adorable; seeing before socializing worked for 1 yr isolates but took 6 months to accomplish

Critics Feminist movement Bruno Bettleheim Leading expert on Autism in the 1960’s Accussed HH of creating autistic monkeys with “refrigerator” mothers HH disagreed and argued for Biology Possible that Autistic children create “refrigerator” parents Mother-Infant Bonding: A Scientific Fiction HH & Bowlby Retort: focus on importance of mothers to development, NOT trying to bind women to the home Disliked supporting moms at home/being told by males; HH to get rise out of people; @ relig school pic 2 monkeys mating “sermon on the mount”

Third Time’s the Charm Remarried Clara March 1972 2nd honeymoon in England, Scotland, Ireland Lived happily ever after

The End Developed Parkinson’s 1974 Resigned from UW- Madison Moved to Tucson, Arizona The Human Model published Parkinson’s progressed rapidly Died December 6, 1981 From Learning to Love published by Clara 5 years after his death Clara became research assistant in AZ, Clara edited human model; Read poem pg 255; had sense of humor until end

Questions Do you think that the treatment of the monkeys is justified by the importance of the information gained? Do you think there was a better way that this information could have been proven? A proposal has been made to replicate these studies, should it be allowed? How do you think childcare would be different if these studies were never done?

“If monkeys have taught us anything it’s that you’ve got to learn how to love before you learn how to live.”

References Blum, Deborah. (2002). Love at goon park: Harry Harlow and the science of affection. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.