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The ___________ in the Harlow Attachment study were "The baby will spend more time with the mother who has food" and "The baby will spend more time with the mother that is comfortable".

a) Hypotheses
b) Research methods
c) Scientific methods
d) Theories

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The statements in the Harlow Attachment study are hypotheses that were tested by comparing the time spent by baby monkeys with a wire surrogate mother providing food versus a soft cloth surrogate offering comfort without nourishment.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statements given in the Harlow Attachment study represent the hypotheses that were being tested in the experiments. Hypotheses are tentative explanations for scientific observations that can be tested through data collection and research. In this context, the hypotheses were that 'The baby will spend more time with the mother who has food' and 'The baby will spend more time with the mother that is comfortable.' These hypotheses examined the importance of nourishment versus comfort in the bonding process between infants (in this case, monkey infants) and their caregivers.

Harry Harlow's experiments in the 1950s involved newborn monkeys and two surrogate mothers, one made of wire and able to dispense milk, and the other made from soft cloth without providing nourishment. The outcome of the research demonstrated that the need for comfort provided by the cloth 'mother' was more potent than the biological need for food. This pivotal research contributed significantly to the understanding of emotional bonds in the mother-child relationship, which is a fundamental aspect of attachment theory.

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