10 Unbelievably Cruel Studies (Done In The Name Of Science)

3. Harry Harlow Tortures Monkeys

Harry Harlow made the University Of Oklahoma researchers who killed an elephant with an acid overdose looks like ruddy saints with his experiments conducted almost solely on rhesus monkeys. The American psychologist did some truly unique work looking into maternal-separation, dependency needs, and social isolation, from which we learned the importance of care-giving and companionship in social and cognitive development. It's just that he had to make those studies by doing unbelievably cruel things to orphaned baby apes, is all. If we've not already tested the limits of your understanding by this point, animal lovers, we strongly advise you to look away now. Skip to the next slide, have a cup of tea, maybe watch some of those old PG Tips adverts on YouTube. Because in comparison to this, sticking some chimps in clothes and making them "act" won't seem so bad. One of Harlow's early monkey studies involved seeing whether baby apes would prefer a friendly-looking "surrogate" mother made of cloth or a scary wire-frame one. They overwhelmingly chose the former, even when the latter was carrying food and milk, suggesting that appearance is important in forming attachments. Or just they were scared, orphaned monkeys who were looking for solace wherever they could. That one was more weird than controversial, but Harlow wasted not time in coming up with his most infamous study. His aptly-titled pit of despair was a claustrophobic, locked box into which he dumped newborn and young monkeys, hoping to induce a form of animal clinical depression. It worked, obviously, and then he kicked it up a notch by rearing multiple baby apes in similar isolation, releasing them after two years and finding them severely disturbed. As you probably would be. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many credit Harlow's experiments for inspiring the start of the animal liberation movement.