Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M2281

Harlow's Monkeys

Harlow's Monkeys
BehaviorHigh supportPsychology
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

In the choice between a wire mother with milk and a cloth mother without milk, infant monkeys overwhelmingly chose to cling to the cloth mother, only going to the wire mother for food when extremely hungry.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Contact comfort: It demonstrated that love and touch (Contact Comfort) are more fundamental needs for primates than food. Raising children (or managing relationships) requires more than just providing money (milk); you must also provide hugs (cloth).

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Harlow's experiments with infant monkeys demonstrated that contact comfort (soft surrogate mother) builds attachment more strongly than feeding, challenging the notion that feeding equals love.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_HarlowZH · Explicit
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