A famous experiment in anthropomorphism and psychology

by Patch O'Furr


Flayrah News, 3/5/2013:


Harry Harlow was a psychologist who experimented with monkeys. In the 1950’s and 60’s, he gave his subjects “surrogate” mothers built from different objects, to see how they would behave, and learn about care-giving and companionship in social and cognitive development. PBS says about his famous experiment:


Here’s an image gallery that illustrates the concept of “anthropomorphism” in monkey terms. To understand the experiment as a powerful metaphor, this web art project/essay says a lot with few words: Chicken Wire Mother.

These animal experiments were meant to speak about people. The way monkeys gave special meaning to surrogate objects based on softness makes me think about why furryness resonates with people. It’s tough to articulate in general terms, so I’ll let you interpret it for yourself.

People who advocate for animal welfare can be accused of too much anthropomorphizing. They respond that these experiments were far more cruel than helpful. For better or worse, Harry Harlow’s experiments were seminal for provoking conversation about animal welfare:

Gene Sackett of the University of Washington in Seattle, who was one of Harlow’s doctoral students, has stated that he believes the animal liberation movement in the U.S. was born as a result of Harlow’s experiments.

I was reminded of the “Chicken Wire Mother” by a Reddit humor post about a prank-ish art work (mildly NSFW) – a bronze Mickey Mouse with a colossal boner. In a debate about artistic content, one commenter quipped: “It could just be furry porn”. But bronze is cold and hard, not furry… and that’s what led to this post.