Discovering
Love
By Jordan Kodner and
Nate Thomas
Theory
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Primary Needs
o
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Food, Water, Air, etc.
LOVE
Contact Comfort
o
Pleasure from close physical contact
Previous Beliefs
o
mother (feeder of the child)
 source for protection and comfort
 feeder became primary source for love
Background
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H. F. Harlow (1958).
o
•
•
o
Developmental psychologist.
Used Rhesus monkeys for ethical reasons
Behaviorists
o
mothers fulfill hunger/thirst and avoidance of pain
Love
o
o
Caused from association of mother with pleasurable
event
As important or more than other primary traits.
Theoretical Proposition
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Previous studies monkeys raised by humans
o
Better chance of survival
Monkeys became attached to cloth pads
Started after one day.
o Without pads monkeys would thrive poorly.
o
•
Harlow theorized Infant monkeys needed
softness along with basic needs
Method
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Built Artificial Mothers
o Wire Mother
o Cloth Mother
Equal except for contact
comfort
Monkeys randomly assigned.
Wire Mother provided milk. Cloth
Mother had a nursing bottle for milk.
o This was to separate influence from
nursing and influence of contact comfort.
Method Cont.
•
•
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Harlow want to see how monkey responded
to fearful situations.
Open Field Test
o room had either cloth mother, no mother, or wire
mother.
o Studied tendency of monkeys to adapt and explore
with and without mother.
Also wanted to test if attachment to mother
would last over time.
o
after six months they were separated and reunited in
Open Field Situations.
Results
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Monkeys preferred cloth mother
o
Biological needs had no impact on monkey’s
choice of a mother.
Contact comfort played the biggest role.
o
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Strength of preference was surprising
All monkeys spent most of the time with the cloth
mother
Infants raised by wire mother became
stressed.
Results Cont.
•
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The Open Field Test also showed infant’s
attachment to cloth mother.
o When frightened infants would go to cloth mother.
o When with wire mother and without either mother,
monkeys would act fearful.
When reunited with cloth mother monkeys
would play with the mother.
o Last about 3 minutes and then the monkeys would
explore.
Discussion
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Importance of contact comfort
o
o
Development of attachment between infant and
mother
 More important than mother’s ability to give milk
to infant
Change in psychology
 Disproved popular beliefs at the time
•
Direct correlation between the feeding of the child and the
connection to the feeder
Discussion Cont.
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“There is little question that Harlow believed that his
results could be applied to humans”
o Socioeconomic demand for increase in women
working
 People feared leaving their baby without a mother
•
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Worried that it would ruin the child’s ability for attachment
Proved that anyone could give contact comfort
Criticisms and Significance
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Criticisms
o
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Comparing human attachment process to monkeys
Unethical to test on infant monkeys
Significance
o
o
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Influenced care provided for those in Orphanages
and Hospitals
Encouragement for nonmaternal caregivers
Provides further understanding in child abuse.
 How an abused child is still attached to abusive
parent
Recent Applications
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Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2003
o
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Feldman & Eidelman, 1998
o
o
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Examined connection between social isolation and
physical health in adults
Adults lacking social contact had poorer health.
Examined how skin-to-skin connection is important
in survival and development of premature infants.
Hospital caring must balance touch with other
protections to ensure a premature baby's safety.
Psychotherapeutic
o
Touch has become a central role in counseling
Conclusions
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Feeder = Primary love giver
Father, Grandparent, Nany
 all possible candidates for the child's 'safety
blanket'
o Mothers working does not affect child's ability to
attach
o
Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlfOecrr6kI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I
&feature=endscreen