Contact Comfort

What it is

In Harlow's 1958 experiment, eight infant rhesus monkeys spent far more time on a cloth surrogate than a wire one whichever supplied milk, and Harlow concluded that contact comfort outweighs nursing as a source of affection.

In effect

The article on weighted toys and comfort blankets uses it as the early finding that softness alone can be what a frightened infant seeks.

What it does not say

The experiment used eight infant monkeys and a cloth and a wire surrogate. It does not say how far the result carries to human infants or to adults who like soft objects.

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