Abstract:  Maternal behavior is a kind of instinctive behavior with strong motivation and regularity, reflected in a series of care and protection for their pups. Previous studies have shown that maternal behavior does not only affect the emotions, the cognitive and learning abilities of offspring, but also relates to the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the influence of maternal behavior on offspring's psychological functions and behavior has received more and more attention in recent years. A lot of researches have explored the influence of maternal behavior on offspring's psychological functions and behavior and tried to elucidate the mechanisms underlying it. While there is no review to discuss the issues above in details. In the present review, we deeply discussed the effects of maternal behavior on the psychological functions and behavior of offspring. Furthermore, we also tried to explainthe limitations of the previous studies. Lastly, in view of these deficiencies, we put forward some suggestions that might improve the future study work in this field.

Key words: maternal behavior, psychological development, behavior development