Carhuayo 1

Robert Carhuayo

Ms. Adair

FLVS Psychology 1

20 June 2016

“The Nature of Love” Response

In Harry Harlow’s famous experiment involving the wire and cloth mother, he gives
infant monkey the choice between a warm, comforting, and patient cloth mother, and a wire
mother that only offers the biological need of milk (as well a scenario where the cloth mother
offers milk and the wire mother offers nothing). The monkeys nearly always chose the cloth
mother for something he called “contact” comfort, which he believed was an example of the
affection required for social development. In his article, “The Nature of Love”, Harlow includes
a quote from a woman he had told the experiment to:

“Now I know what's wrong with me," she said, "I'm just a wire mother."

Using Harlow’s descriptions of the cloth mother, one can determine that the wire mother isn’t
as comforting. It would appear that the wire mother’s lack of physical comfort also translates to
a lack of emotional comfort. For the lady to be a “wire mother” would most likely mean that
she doesn’t typically offer emotional comfort or support to her children, and instead only
focuses on their immediate biological survival (such as food, water, and a home to live in). In
addition, she may believe there is something wrong with her because her children may dislike
her to a certain extent, in the way the monkeys avoided the wire mother with the exception for
biological survival.

In further experimentation, Harlow was able to see that when the monkey and cloth
mother were placed in a room, the monkeys felt more comfortable to explore their
surroundings than when they were left alone in the room. When they were left alone in their
room, most wouldn’t even move from a curled up position on the floor. In a similar experiment,
Mary Ainsworth attempted to prove affection’s (or rather, lack thereof) effect on exploration by
 Carhuayo 2

instead having more than 50 infants placed in new and “strange” situations, some of which
included the infant being alone in a room with a stranger. Most infants disliked any separation
from their mother, and might even react with a mixture of acceptance and rejection when they
returned. However, as long as the mother was in the room, the infants felt comfortable to
explore, even if the stranger was in the room as well. In conclusion, it can be determined from
the results of both the Harlow and Ainsworth experiments that an affectionate bond with your
caregiver provides a sense of security that allows you to explore with little to no fear. In the
case of the “wire mother”, her children would most likely feel less inclined to explore, due to
the lack of comfort they receive. Love is needed for a healthy social development, as much as
having your biological needs met.