Lecture Notes: Infantile Attachment in Monkeys

Key Experiment: Wire Mother vs. Cloth Mother

• Subject: Baby monkey 106 raised with two surrogate mothers.
  • Wire Mother: Provides nourishment.
  • Cloth Mother: Provides comfort and security.

Observations

• Time Spent: 106 spends 17-18 hours/day with the cloth mother and less than an hour with the wire mother.
• Importance of Contact Comfort:
  • Predicted to be of measurable importance but was found to be overwhelmingly significant.
  • Overshadows other variables, including nursing and nervous state.
  • Suggests a preference for comfort and security over mere nourishment.

Questions on Love and Security

• What does it mean for a baby to love its mother?
  • A feeling of security in the mother's presence.
  • If frightened, a baby seeks the mother for comfort, replacing fear with security.

Experimental Apparatus

• Designed to frighten the baby monkey (flashing eyes, loud sounds, mechanical parts).
• Behavioral Response: Monkey runs to the mother for comfort.
  • Contact with the mother transforms the monkey’s personality, enabling it to confront the frightening apparatus.

Strength of Infantile Love

• Test Environment: A new, strange room designed to be menacing.
• Monkey's Reaction Without Mother: Overwhelmed with fear and disturbance.

Testing with Surrogate Mothers

• With Wire Mother:
  • Provides no comfort; monkey remains disturbed.
• With Cloth Mother:
  • Monkey seeks contact comfort, which alleviates fear and builds security.
  • New positive behaviors emerge: exploration, curiosity.
  • Represents a transition to a normal, happy baby.

Conclusion

• The experiment demonstrates the profound impact of contact comfort.
• Provides insight into child development: comfort and security are essential components of love and emotional well-being.
• Implication for human children: presence of a comforting figure crucial in new or frightening situations.