In memoriam: Harry F. Harlow (1905–1981)

Effects of Food Ecology on Social Play: A Laboratory Simulation3

“…If the frequency of play dropped significantly during food deprivation, the data would support a major question raised by the field study: Is play experience essential for the "normal" socialization of the young monkey? Many theories of play have stressed the important, functional role of play in socialization (LOIZOS 1967;DOLHINOW and BISHOP 1970;SUOMI and HARLOW 1971;BEKOFF 1972;POIRIER 1972;MILLER 1973); and some have carried the argument one step further to assume that play is essential for normal socialization, behavioral development, social integration, control of aggression and other adaptive traits (LOIZOS 1967;SUOMI and HARLOW 1971;BEKOFF 1972 [but see BEKOFF 19741). The Barqueta study, however, raised the question of whether play is absolutely essential.…”

The Influence of Early Weaning on Aggressive Behavior in Mice

“…In rats, for instance, a lower level of maternal care or long-term maternal deprivation increases responsiveness to various stressors and anxiety-related behavior, whereas the same deprivation suppresses the manifestation of social behavior [1,8,12,19]. Rhesus monkeys that received less maternal care also exhibit exaggerated fear responses and emotional behavior [11,17].Weaning is one of the most important experiences in the early life of mammalian species. Early weaning from the mother led to a decrease in play-fighting and to an increase in anxiety-related behavior in juvenile rats [6,7].…”

“…65(12): 1347-1349, 2003 Development of the behavioral repertoire is greatly influenced by the early postnatal environment in various mammalian species. In particular, mother-pup interactions play an important role in the development of instinctive behavior [1,8,11,12,17,19]. In rats, for instance, a lower level of maternal care or long-term maternal deprivation increases responsiveness to various stressors and anxiety-related behavior, whereas the same deprivation suppresses the manifestation of social behavior [1,8,12,19].…”

“When Strangers Meet”: John Bowlby and Harry Harlow on Attachment Behavior

“…It was a time when behaviorist views carried the day and the conditioned responses of Norwegian rats were the key to understanding mental life. So, when Harlow was appointed at Wisconsin in 1930 and found that the psychology department's chairman had the rat laboratory dismantled and it was not about to be replaced, he was greatly inconvenienced (Harlow 1977, p. 138-139;Suomi and LeRoy 1982).…”

“…It was only at the suggestion of the chairman's wife that Harlow decided to study primates at the local zoo and he soon found out that the intellectual capabilities of the monkeys were far greater than those of rats (Suomi and LeRoy 1982). To study these capabilities more rigorously and effectively Harlow developed the Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA; Harlow and Bromer 1938) by which it was possible to present the monkeys with a large number of learning tests in a highly standardized way.…”