3.5: Romanian orphan studies

Question 1

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks)

Answer 1

Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain

Question 2

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
What served as a control group?

Answer 2

A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group

Question 3

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
What did they find?

Answer 3

They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted

Question 4

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
Example

Answer 4

For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years

Question 5

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
When did these differences remain?

Answer 5

These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al)

Question 6

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, what did those children adopted after 6 months show?

Answer 6

However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment

Question 7

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include what?

Answer 7

However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include:

1. Attention-seeking
2. Clinginess
3. Social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults

Question 8

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both who?

Answer 8

However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include:

1. Attention-seeking
2. Clinginess
3. Social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar

Question 9

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
What did those children adopted before 6 months rarely display?

Answer 9

Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment

Question 10

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al.

Answer 10

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care

Question 11

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
Who were they compared to?

Answer 11

They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution

Question 12

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
What percentage of institutionalised children did the description of disinhibited attachment apply to?

Answer 12

The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children

Question 13

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to what?

Answer 13

The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group

Question 14

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

First AO3 PEEL paragraph

Answer 14

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study

Question 15

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped do what?

Answer 15

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years

Question 16

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to do what?

Answer 16

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans

Question 17

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
What did this also help to do?

Answer 17

This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation

Question 18

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
What is a weakness with longitudinal studies however?

Answer 18

A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results

Question 19

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
Example

Answer 19

For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, whilst they were there

Question 20

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as what, whilst they were there?

Answer 20

For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there

Question 21

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

Second AO3 PEEL paragraph

Answer 21

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions

Question 22

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
What did the researchers not interfere with?

Answer 22

The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process

Question 23

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
What does this mean?

Answer 23

This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones

Question 24

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a what?

Answer 24

This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable

Question 25

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
What does this mean?

Answer 25

This means that the findings are not valid

Question 26

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

Third AO3 PEEL paragraph

Answer 26

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation

Question 27

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: What?

Answer 27

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care

Question 28

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care.
Why is this methodologically better?

Answer 28

This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents

Question 29

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care.
This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents, but what?

Answer 29

This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents, but it raises ethical issues

Question 30

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care.
This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents, but it raises ethical issues.

Fourth AO3 PEEL paragraph

Answer 30

The fourth AO3 PEEL paragraph is that research into Romanian orphans have real-life application

Question 31

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care.
This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents, but it raises ethical issues.

The fourth AO3 PEEL paragraph is that research into Romanian orphans have real-life application.
What has it enhanced our understanding of?

Answer 31

It has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation

Question 32

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care.
This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents, but it raises ethical issues.

The fourth AO3 PEEL paragraph is that research into Romanian orphans have real-life application.
It has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation.
What have such results led to?

Answer 32

Such results have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions (Langton)

Question 33

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care.
This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents, but it raises ethical issues.

The fourth AO3 PEEL paragraph is that research into Romanian orphans have real-life application.
It has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation.
Such results have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions (Langton).
Example

Answer 33

For example, orphanages and children’s homes now ensure that perhaps only one or two people play a central role for a child, so that the chances of children displaying disinhibited attachment are reduced

Question 34

Describe and evaluate research into Romanian orphans (16 marks).
Rutter et al’s ERA project was that physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
They found that the mean IQ decreased for adopted children the later they were adopted.
For example, the mean IQ of those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al).
However, those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment, for which symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Those children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 Romanian orphans aged 12 - 31 months who had spent 90% on average of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children, as opposed to less than 20% of the control group.

The first AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one strength of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study was that it was a longitudinal study, which helped measure the lives of the children over many years to truly understand the lasting differences that occurred in orphans.
This also helped to identify consistent changes that may disappear over time, but be mistakenly concluded to be definite due to institutionalisation.
A weakness with longitudinal studies however, is that a number of factors and extraneous variables may affect the results.
For example, the Romanian orphans may actually display poor development not due to institutionalisation, but other factors, such as poor cognitive stimulation, whilst they were there.

The second AO3 PEEL paragraph is that one of the methodological issues for Rutter et al’s ERA project is that children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process.
This means that those children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable.
This means that the findings are not valid.

The third AO3 PEEL paragraph is that to control such variables, another major investigation of fostering vs institutional care did use random allocation: In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to fostering or institutional care.
This is methodologically better, because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents, but it raises ethical issues.

The fourth AO3 PEEL paragraph is that research into Romanian orphans have real-life application.
It has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation.
Such results have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions (Langton).
For example, orphanages and children’s homes now ensure that perhaps only one or two people play a central role for a child, so that the chances of children displaying disinhibited attachment are reduced.
What does this show?

Answer 34

This shows that research into Romanian orphans has been immensely valuable in practical terms