structural:scholar_edition, linguistic:voice_change
1950s to the 1970s

The maternal deprivation hypothesis, attachment theory's precursor, was enormously controversial. Ten years after the publication of the hypothesis, Ainsworth listed nine concerns that she felt were the chief points of controversy. Ainsworth separated the three dimensions of maternal deprivation into lack of maternal care, distortion of maternal care and discontinuity of maternal care. She analysed the dozens of studies undertaken in the field and concluded that the basic assertions of the maternal deprivation hypothesis were sound although the controversy continued. As the formulation of attachment theory progressed, critics commented on empirical support for the theory and for the possible alternative explanations for results of empirical research. Wootton questioned the suggestion that early attachment history (as it would now be called) had a lifelong impact.