Mind Changers, a BBC Radio 4 production which explores the development of psychology in the twentieth century, has just released an episode entitled, Harlow’s Monkeys. Mind Changers, Series 4, has been discussed on AHP previously in relation to the first two episodes of the program which, respectively, discuss the Rosenhan Experiment and the Hawthorne Effect.

As described on the Mind Changers website, in the 30 minute program, host Claudia Hammond,

visits the Primate Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, where Harlow conducted his experiments, and meets his former assistant, Helen LeRoy, and the current director of the lab, Professor Christopher Coe. At the University of Massachussets, Amherst, she meets Harlow’s last PhD student, now Chair of Psychology, Professor Melinda Novak. She also talks to Roger Fouts, Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Washington, about the perceived cruelty of Harlow’s work, and to Dr John Oates, lecturer in the Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning at the Open University.

On a related note, AHP recently posted about an article by Marga Vicedo in the latest issue of JHBS which explores Harlow’s attachment research.

Early Mind Changers programs from 2003 are also available to listen to on the web. These programs include ones on Soloman Asch’s conformity work, Jean Piaget’s three mountain experiment, and Sir Frederic Bartlett memory research utilizing the story “The war of the ghosts.” Unfortunately, the audio of previous programs on Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment, Lawrence Kohlberg’s Heinz Dilemma, Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll Research, are no longer available.