Harlow's Monkeys

Harlow used newborn monkeys in an experiment to test the basis of attachment. The behaviourist predicted that since the milk bottle was attached to the wire figure the infant would spend more time with the wire mother when it came to comfort. But the infants spend more time with the cloth mother when put in a stressful situation, which showed that the bond between the mother and the infant was solely based on physiological needs (warmth & safety). The cloth figure didn’t show anything for the monkey to be so dependent on (no food), this made the behaviourists react differently and take on a different approach to their constructed theory.