Monkey Love

In the 1950's Harry F. Harlow, a known psychologist, conducted experiments on infant monkeys and maternal deprivation. The rheus monkey was used to compare what happens when a mother and infant are seperated. In his University of Wisconsin lab Harlow experimented with monkey love. Some little infants were introduced to a surrogate mother, a wire structure embodied with a warm carpet (to mimick the natural mothers body). The other infants were introduced to a wire structure with food enclosed within (no carpet or warmth). Those that were raised with the carpet, held it tightly, cuddled to it, and often chose to be close to this structure than having food. They were frail because of the lack of food, however were mentally compatible and did not express other problems. In contrast, the monkeys raised with the bare metal structure were agressive and had some mental as well as physical problems. The monkeys from each group were then given a choice. They were placed in a cage with both structures, and both monkeys preffered and cuddled to the the structure with carpet. Overall, the experiment proved that cases of surrogacy (even if applied to humans) strongly depended on the bond between the mother and the child. In application to today's society, one can compare this to premature babies grown in incubators. The youngest baby kept in an incubator (and survived) was 22 weeks old. However, these babies often grow into physical, mental disabilities, or long term health defects. Although we have the technology to mimick the environment of a mother's womb, we can not mimick the comforting and caring bond which completes a healthy baby.