Harlow, Harry Frederick (1905-1981), was an American psychologist. He provided new understanding of human behavior and development through studies of the social behavior of monkeys.
Harlow’s research showed that maternal love and close social contacts are necessary at an early age for the normal development of behavior. He studied female infant monkeys that had been taken from their mothers at birth and given dummy mothers made of wire or cloth. Deprived of the care and affection of their natural mothers, the monkeys grew up to be neglected or abusive mothers. Harlow also found that monkeys raised in isolation did not get along well with other monkeys.
Harlow was born on Oct. 31, 1905, in Fairfield, Iowa, and graduated from Stanford University in 1927. He received a Ph.D. degree in psychology from Stanford in 1930. He served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin from 1930 until he retired in 1974. He died on Dec. 6, 1981.
