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

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 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.