Discovering Love

1. Discovering Love By Jordan Kodner and Nate Thomas

2. Theory • Primary Needs • Food, Water, Air, etc. • LOVE • Contact Comfort • Pleasure from close physical contact • Previous Beliefs • mother (feeder of the child) • source for protection and comfort • feeder became primary source for love

3. Background • H. F. Harlow (1958). • Developmental psychologist. • Used Rhesus monkeys for ethical reasons • Behaviorists • mothers fulfill hunger/thirst and avoidance of pain • Love • Caused from association of mother with pleasurable event • As important or more than other primary traits.

4. Theoretical Proposition • Previous studies monkeys raised by humans • Better chance of survival • Monkeys became attached to cloth pads • Started after one day. • Without pads monkeys would thrive poorly. • Harlow theorized Infant monkeys needed softness along with basic needs

5. Method • Built Artificial Mothers • Wire Mother • Cloth Mother • Equal except for contact comfort • Monkeys randomly assigned. • Wire Mother provided milk. Cloth Mother had a nursing bottle for milk. • This was to separate influence from nursing and influence of contact comfort. • Recorded contact for 5 months.

6. Method Cont. • Harlow want to see how monkey responded to fearful situations. • Open Field Test • room had either cloth mother, no mother, or wire mother. • Studied tendency of monkeys to adapt and explore with and without mother. • Also wanted to test if attachment to mother would last over time. • after six months they were separated and reunited in Open Field Situations.

7. Results • Monkeys preferred cloth mother • Strength of preference was surprising • Biological needs had no impact on monkey’s choice of a mother. • Contact comfort played the biggest role. • All monkeys spent most of the time with the cloth mother • Infants raised by wire mother became stressed.

8. Results Cont. • The Open Field Test also showed infant’s attachment to cloth mother. • When frightened infants would go to cloth mother. • When with wire mother and without either mother, monkeys would act fearful. • When reunited with cloth mother monkeys would play with the mother. • Last about 3 minutes and then the monkeys would explore.

9. Discussion • Importance of contact comfort • 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

10. Discussion Cont. • “There is little question that Harlow believed that his results could be applied to humans” • Socioeconomic demand for increase in women working • People feared leaving their baby without a mother • Worried that it would ruin the child’s ability for attachment • Proved that anyone could give contact comfort

11. Criticisms and Significance • Criticisms • Comparing human attachment process to monkeys • Unethical to test on infant monkeys • Significance • 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

12. Recent Applications • Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2003 • Examined connection between social isolation and physical health in adults • Adults lacking social contact had poorer health. • Feldman & Eidelman, 1998 • 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 • Touch has become a central role in counseling

13. Conclusions • Feeder = Primary love giver • Father, Grandparent, Nany • all possible candidates for the child's 'safety blanket' • Mothers working does not affect child's ability to attach

14. Videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlfOecrr6kI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I&feature=endscreen