Until some forty years ago it was widely believed that the love for the mother was a direct consequence of the fact that she provided the means to satisfy basic biological needs-she provided food, warmth, physical protection and relief from pain. The most influential version of this approach was probably that of Sigmund Freud, who believed that the terror of infants at their mother’s absence is based on the expectation that they would go unfed. Because mothers were seen primarily as a food repository. Freud’s view became known as the cupboard theory of mother love (Bowlby,1969,1973).

The cupboard theory has been criticised on several grounds, one being the fact that babies often show great interest in people other than those who feed them. For example infants seem to enjoy being cuddled, smiled at, and played with and there is not one shred of evidence to indicate that babies enjoy pee

Some topics in this essay:
John Bowlby, According Ainsworth, , Sigmund Freud, Ray1996 Infants, Furstenberg Cherlin1991, Lipton1962 Dennis1973, Mary Ainsworth, Maccoby Dornbusch1996, Belsky Braungart1991, emotional development, children divorced, ainsworth colleagues, mother leaves, divorced parents, children divorced parents, social emotional, childhood emotional development, loving caring, childhood development, john bowlby, cupboard theory, role attachment childhood, distress mother leaves, social emotional development,