How important is the touch of a mother?

What do you think is more important for healthy development of an infant? The warm love of a mother or the satisfaction of physiological needs?

In the 1950s, Harry Harlow conducted experiments to see what would happen if baby monkeys had a choice of a warm mother or a mother that only gave them food, but no comfort. These "mothers" were made of wire. One had a bottle that dispensed milk, and the other had a warm blanket wraps around it with space for the monkey to cuddle in. When placed in a room with these two mothers, the monkey spent most of the time with the warm mother and would only quickly run over to the other for milk and then immediately return back to the blanketed one. These monkeys group up to be emotionally stable.

Harlow took this experiment to another level. He took different monkeys and put one in a room to live with the warm mother and one to live with the mother that only provided food.

"When he separated the infants into two groups and gave them no choice between the two types of mothers, all the monkeys drank equal amounts and grew physically at the same rate. But the similarities ended there. Monkeys who had soft, tactile contact with their terry cloth mothers behaved quite differently than monkeys whose mothers were made out of cold, hard wire. Harlow hypothesized that members of the first group benefited from a psychological resource—emotional attachment—unavailable to members of the second. By providing reassurance and security to infants, cuddling kept normal development on track (Harlow, 1959).

The ones that were secluded from the warm "mother" were never able to socialize, once they were adults, with other monkeys. They were very aggressive and weren't able to lead a normal life. This experiment helped to show that infants psychological needs are important to satisfy, rather than just the physiological needs. This experiment also showed the importance of mother/infant attachment and bonding.

Harlow, H.F. (1959) "Love in Infant Monkeys."

Images from http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption/studies/HarlowMLE.htm



If you enjoy my posts,

Finally a decision on the cellphone debate

I have finally caved into the purchase of a smartphone. I had the opportunity to buy one for only 29 dollars and jumped at the chance. A Nokia E62. I still have it charging and will give all my comments as soon as I learn how to use it.

Anyone still using internet explorer on a regular basis?

Please please please switch over to Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla has a pop up blocker in it and is much more use friendly. You will get less spyware and viruses on your computer and it's completely free. You just download and install it (I have a link for it on the right side of the blog; it says Firefox) and it will import all the bookmarks you have set in your explorer. I can't stress enough of how important the switch over is. I can't even count the number of times that I've had to reformat computers that solely use IE.

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Pay per Post

So after investigating the blog scene, I have learned that bloggers can make money for their posts. PayPerPost.com allows approved bloggers to pick through topics to write about and get paid. I just opened the account two days ago and got approved this morning. I can't wait to blog and roll in some dough :) So far I have seen opportunities for up to 175 dollars, but I'm sure there are more. I'm still new to the blogging world, but I am learning fast. The site has so far proven to be user friendly. You also have the opportunity to meet other bloggers, which I have yet to explore. Keep blogging and reading! :)
advertise on blogs

Obedience Experiment and Its Application

Social psychologists experiment and research human behavior. In 1961, after the trial of Adolph Eichmann, a high ranking Nazi Colonel, a question arose of whether Eichmann and his accomplices were just following orders. In other words, how far would someone go just because they were told to do so. Some may think that the stakes at hand may play a part in this decision, but social psychologist, Stanly Milgram, devised an experiment that showed that perhaps the consequences of not following the order were not very strong in their effects on how far a person would go.

The participants for the study were recruited through advertisements and the experiment was conducted in two basement rooms at Yale. The advertisement said that the participants would be paid whether or not they completed the study. The were told that the experiment was on the effects of punishment on learning.

In the basement, there was an "experimenter," a man in a lab coat, who showed no emotion, another "participant," who not really a participant, but rather a confederate, who was later made to be a "learner." This left the actual participant. The real participant was named a "teacher." (Follow with me. It'll come together any minute now...)

The "teacher" was asked by the experimenter to read off word pairs to the "learner." After reading the list, the "teacher" was instructed to read the first word to see if the "learner" could respond with the second word from that pair. I forgot to add the most important part of this experiment. The "learner" was attached to an electro-shock generator, which the "teacher" was under the impression was fully working (which it wasn't, because you can't actually administer the shock, right? keep reading :) )
If the "learner" made an incorrect response, the "teacher" was told to administer shock. They were also told to increase the voltage with every incorrect answer.

"After a number of voltage level increases, the (learner) started to bang on the wall that separated him from the (participant). After several times banging on the wall and complaining about his heart condition, all responses by the learner cease(d). (Milgram, 1963)"

The "teacher" became uncomfortable, but after the experimenter instructed him to continue, he continued. If the "teacher" would not continue after being instructed to do so, then the experiment was over. Otherwise, the experiment continued up to a "450 volt shock."

"In Milgram's first set of experiments, 65% (26 out of 40)of experimental participants administered the experiment's final 450-volt shock, though many were quite uncomfortable in doing so; everyone paused at some point and questioned the experiment, some even saying they would return the check for the money they were paid. No participant steadfastly refused to give further shocks before the 300-volt level. (Milgram, 1963)"


Information from Wikipedia and following source:
Milgram, Stanley (1963). "Behavioral Study of Obedience". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 67: 371–378.

Click here for the full text of the scholarly article

Click here to read the account of one of the actual participants