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Over fifty years ago a speech called “The Nature of Love” was presented at the American Psychological Association (APA) conference. The presenter was Harry Harlow, then president of the APA. In that speech, Dr. Harlow shared the preliminary results of some very basic, but revolutionary, experiments on infant attachment done with baby rhesus monkeys at the University of Wisconsin. Harlow’s research is a prime example of how the practice of Clinical Psychology integrates research, theory and practical application. At the time of Harlow’s tenure, a predominant theory was that an infant reaching for mother was the result of nothing more than the learned association between mother and nutrition. This led to the popularization of the idea that responding to a baby’s cries would result in the development of a dependent adult and should, therefore, not be practiced. The Research: Harlow’s experiments provided the hard science to support the theories of Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby who had begun to challenge the theories of such behaviorists as John Watson and B. F. Skinner. Bowlby and Ainsworth believed that the attachment which existed was distinct from the association between mother and food. To test the importance of the nurturance that was provided by mothers, Harlow removed newborn monkeys from their mothers and housed them with surrogate mothers of either terry cloth or wire. Given the choice between a wire mother who dispensed milk and a milk-free terry cloth mother, infant monkeys preferred terry cloth mothers. When exposed to a moving toy or a strange room, babies with cloth mothers rushed to them, buried their faces in the soft fabric and relaxed. Babies with wire mothers shook in terror against the wall. For infant monkeys that were totally isolated during critical periods in the development of maternally directed affection, the introduction of either the wire or the terry surrogate mother not only gave them no security, but instead appeared to serve as a fear stimulus. Harlow’s researchers observed that infant monkeys raised by monkey mothers and then separated from them became uninterested in exploration and became listless; and that the monkeys who were put in total isolation became despairing and depressed. He concluded that infant monkeys are very vulnerable to loss of what he described as “contact comfort”. Harlow also found that, like monkeys separated from their mothers, monkeys left alone with wire mothers for a long period of time appeared lifeless and stared away. Harlow found that this mother-infant bond is highly resistant to forgetting and is retained for very long periods of time by relatively infrequent contact reinforcement. He also found, however, that extreme deprivation intensified the tie to the mother and the need for contact comfort so much that it overwhelmed the exploratory behaviours one would expect of the monkeys. In contrast, when monkeys with the wire mothers were exposed to cloth mothers, they began to play and to use the mother as a safe base from which to explore. However, they did not rush to the mother and cling to her tightly; they were tentative then went toward and around her. Not only did Harlow find that monkeys living with mothers thrived while those deprived of mothers withered away and sometimes died, he also found that monkeys who had neither mothers, nor peers, were unable to connect with others. When the isolated monkeys were taken out to play and mate, many were antisocial or violent, and some began to show autistic–like behavior. After isolating those factors which were important for the development of attachment, Harlow experimented with ways to heal traumatized monkeys. He found that simply pairing the distressed infants with young nurturing monkeys could slowly rehabilitate them. The Theory: Through his research, Harlow emphasized the importance of nurturance and attachment in normal development; and the effects caused by neglect, loss and disruption of the early bond. Harlow believed that formation of a healthy attachment must depend on more variables than just contact comfort. Later he did identify factors which are important for the development of a healthy attachment. Harlow concluded that a lack of warmth and nurturance led to feeling disconnected not only from parents, but from others, and eventually from self. He established that love grows from the primary attachment, and that the child then takes the memory of that so that every other interaction is a replay and revision of this early bond. To read more about the Clinical Application of Harlow's research on attachment, click here. |
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