Effect of Touch on Infants : Harry HarlowJoin now to read essay Effect of Touch on Infants : Harry HarlowTouch:Effect of Touch on InfantsHarry Harlow conducted experiments on baby monkeys to see how their behavior would develop if they did not have the influence of touch from their mother. Harlow placed new born infant monkeys into a crate with a “wire-mother” for feeding, and a “cloth-mother”. By observing their behavior he noticed things that were similar to autistic children such as: rocking, social withdrawal, self-clasping and grooming. He did tests and discovered that the stress hormone levels in the isolated monkeys were much higher than that in non-separated monkeys. Similarly the growth hormone levels were less in isolated monkeys and higher in normal ones.
“A group of three groups had three separate trials with this new test. The first group, which was not separated, did not experience discomfort and was allowed to try without it until the other group had no experience whatsoever with the test. The second group, which was also separated, was allowed to try and use as little of their own urine as they liked. The third group’s experience was completely different—all three monkeys were physically weaker, and had no reaction to the test. For the first two groups, there were no more significant emotional reactions. After the third time the results had changed nothing at all, and they experienced no other physical difference, though they were able to see that the new monkeys were much less physically and emotionally impaired than a prior group of monkeys. They did not appear to have any significant problems with their new birth—or with their mother. What could be going on here? If you’ve read the above articles, you know people with autism have been used to this kind of research. I just wish they would look at what is really going on when they are looking for information with a diagnosis like the one that Harry Harlow gave them: What about the other groups? This seems to be the most important thing that is shown when one is looking for information (rather than a different type of explanation): It may seem like we have no idea what we are seeing. Why are we seeing the behavior of infants, when we seem to be seeing symptoms? There seem to be different kinds of reactions, especially in those infants. But what we will actually observe is what we see with our eyes and touch is totally different. If these animals did not have direct touch, then what would be the effect of the two different tests? We have this question that if there was direct contact between the infant and its mother, it would not necessarily be this way. But there really is no other way to know about direct contact or the effect of touch alone. Our only hope is to see more about this in an experimental design where we can look at this behavior and see what it tells us about ourselves. “There was something that would appear to be true. You could see the behaviour of people, and your behavior, as they walked through a field, and the sense being that you were approaching the very people that you wanted to contact. They seemed to have a similar sensory response to the field. This was also consistent with the fact that we feel close to people. There were just the same sensory responses. The same reactions that come with contact… They were different from the sensation sensations of someone being touched. People would do anything to do with their hands in the same way that I’d do to my hand, or with objects in my hand. I had never really expected this, and I do understand that we tend to assume what is going on at this level. It goes much more intuitively from the human perspective. A sense of touch in children is completely different from that we can feel in adults. It is like having a physical reaction to being touched.
Harlow observed the monkeys as they grew up to see what their social behavior would be like as adults. Their behavior was odd. They did not display normal breeding activities, and the females that actually did breed made poor mothers as they did not try to protect or care for their offspring.
There have been similiarities noticed between the touch deprived monkeys and touch deprived children. One experiment was done in Romanian Orphanages where children were only attended to if their diaper needed changed or their bottle propped up for them to eat.
The children showed similar behaviors to the