contact comfort

the positive effects experienced by infants or young animals when in close contact with soft materials. The term originates from Harry Harlow’s classic experiments, in which young rhesus monkeys exposed both to an artificial cloth mother without a bottle for feeding and to an artificial wire mother with a bottle for feeding spent more time on the cloth mother and, when frightened, were more readily soothed by the presence of the cloth mother than the wire mother.

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Psychology term of the day

March 16th 2025

child care worker

an individual trained to attend to children on a day-to-day basis in a variety of group settings, including child care centers, schools, businesses, private households, and health care institutions. Child care workers perform such tasks as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.