MOTHER LOVE: THE WORK OF HARRY HARLOW

Slide 1 of 14: Synopsis

Human Development Video Activity
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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.
attachment
The bond between infant and caregiver that is critical to the social and emotional development of a child. The nature and degree of attachment varies depending on the emotional and environmental characteristics of the child-caregiver relationship.
behaviorism
A theory of learning that believes environment, rather than internal thinking, drives human behavior and that under the right circumstances, behavior can be trained or conditioned.
contact comfort
Pleasure that comes from close physical contact, especially as it relates to mothers and caregivers.
institutional review board
A committee charged with reviewing plans for biomedical and behavioral research on human beings to protect the rights of research participants.
primary caregiver
The family member, trained professional, or individual who is in charge of caring for someone who cannot care for him/herself.
reinforcement
A response, in the form of reward or punishment, designed to increase the likelihood of behavior happening again.
secure base
The caregiver whom a baby trusts and, once crawling, uses as a home base from which to gain confidence to explore the environment.
variable
A quality or value that can be changed. In research, a variable is manipulated to determine if changes to one thing can result in changes to something else.
A mother holding her newborn

Author

Victoria Cross, University of California – Davis

Synopsis

This activity focuses on the work of Harry Harlow and contains much original footage from 1959. After considering the concept of the infant-mother bond and some of the ethical considerations around studying this topic, you will review the dominant theories and observe the set up and experiment results of Harlow’s actual study.