Some factors influencing the effects of temporary mother-infant separation: some experiments with rhesus monkeys

Abstract

Synopsis Some experiments, reported in detail elsewhere, on the effects of mother–infant separation in rhesus monkeys are here reviewed and compared. They involved 4 groups – one in which mothers were removed for 13 days leaving the infant in the social group; one in which infants were removed; one in which mothers and infants were removed and separated; and one in which mothers and infants were removed but not separated. The nature of the separation experience had a profound effect on the infant's response: infants left in a familiar environment while their mothers were removed showed marked but brief ‘protest’ and then profound ‘despair’, whilst infants removed to a strange cage showed more prolonged ‘protest’. A major factor determining the effects of the separation experience in the weeks following reunion is the degree to which the mother–infant relationship has been disturbed by it. The multiplicity of factors affecting the outcome of a separation experience are discussed.