Despite the fact that mothers play a significant part in a child’s development nowadays, psychology for a very long time disregarded the impacts of mothering. Different schools of psychology discounted mothers’ contributions as incidental or even harmful to peoples’ mental wellbeing. If she possesses the right feminine traits, her son will have an oedipal complex and grow fascinated with her. If she has a daughter, she serves as a passive role model for her and encourages penis envy.
Neuroses are caused by the mother’s dominant masculine traits, such as anger, control, and assertiveness. Therefore, according to Sigmund Freud, mothers are unavoidable causes of psychic harm that, if left untreated, can last a person their entire life.Mothers are merely a source of nutrients that nurture and condition the children, according to the behavioristic perspective of psychology. Because there is no consciousness, behaviorism only views the mother as a source of reinforcement. Similar to the bar in the rat’s cage that they push to acquire a food pellet, they dispense food and positive emotions. But Harry Harlow’s work brought about a change. In his research at the University of Wisconsin, Harry Harlow focused on learning and development. Animal models were the norm at the time since behaviorists had demonstrated the absence of the mind.Therefore, since animals are just streamlined versions of humans and since there is only the brain and no thinking, we can study the human brain by learning about animal brains.
