You are on the committee to update the design of the hospital NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), which currently has incubators for the babies but not much else. Based on what you have learned about Harlow's experiments with rhesus monkeys, what would you suggest adding to the NICU to improve the babies' health and well-being?

Question

A.  comfortable chairs for parents to hold their babies
B.  softer lighting
C.  white-noise devices to mask the sound of beeping machines
D.  pheromones


Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
Looking at what humans need in light of the Harlow experiment with rhesus monkeys.

What type of thinking is required?
 
Gather Content:
What do you already know about Harlow's experimental results? What other information is related to the question? 

Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?


Answer 1

A.  comfortable chairs for parents to hold their babies

Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
Looking at what humans need in light of the Harlow experiment with rhesus monkeys.

What type of thinking is required?
This is an evaluate question, you are making a judgement as to which choice is the best possible answer. You will need to pick the choice that takes the results of Harlow’s experiments with rhesus monkeys and applies it to human babies.
 
Gather Content:
What do you already know about Harlow's experimental results? What other information is related to the question? 
Harlow’s experiment with baby rhesus monkeys demonstrated that baby monkeys need to have physical contact with their mothers in order to develop normally. Most of these choices would provide a more comforting environment for an infant, but only one of these would make it easier for mothers to provide their infants with more opportunities for physical contact with their mothers.

Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Comfortable chairs would allow for more tactile stimulation between mothers and infants.

Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
Did you get the question right? The key to this evaluate question was understand the implications of Harlow’s research on the influence of tactile stimulation and the development of the infant. Then the challenge was to evaluate the choices and determine which one would be the best for promoting increased contact between mother and infant.