Attachment - Romanian Orphan Studies

Question 1

What is an institution in attachment?

Answer 1

A place where a child lives/spends long continuous time in

Question 2

What are some examples of institutions?

Answer 2

Schools
Prisons
Hospitals
Orphanages

Question 3

What are some examples of institutions?

Answer 3

Schools
Prisons
Hospitals
Orphanages

Question 4

Why do psychologists research orphan studies?

Answer 4

As a means to study the effects of maternal deprivation

Question 5

Who studied Romanian orphanages?

Answer 5

Rutter

Question 6

What was the procedure of Rutter’s ERA (English & Romanian Adoptee) study?

Answer 6

He followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans who were adopted in Britain to see to what extent if good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions

Physical, cognitive & emotional development was assessed at ages 4,6, 11 & 15 yrs

Control group of 52 British adopted children (around same time) used

Question 7

What were the findings of Rutter’s ERA (English & Romanian Adoptee) study?

Answer 7

1st arrived in UK: showed signs of mental retardation & majority were severely undernourished

Age 11: adopted children showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption (IQ of children adopted before age 6 months =102, 86 -> between 6months & 2yrs & 77 after 2 years) -> remained same at age 16

Those adopted before age 6 months -> disinhibited attachment
Those adopted after age 6 months -> rarely disinhibited attachment

Question 8

What are characteristics of a disinhibited attachment type?

Answer 8

Attention seeking
Clinginess
Indiscriminate behaviour towards all adults (familiar & unfamiliar)

Question 9

Which psychologist did the Bucharest early intervention project?

Answer 9

Zeanah et al

Question 10

What was the procedure for Zeanah et al’s Bucharest early intervention project?

Answer 10

Assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% avg)

Control group 50 children (never lived in an institution)

Attachment tested using strange situation

Carers asked about unusual social behaviour (characteristics of disinhibited attachment)

Question 11

What were the findings of Zeanah et al’s Bucharest early intervention project study?

Answer 11

74% of the control group -> securely attached
19% of the institutional group -> securely attached (65% disorganised)

44% institutional group -> disinhibited attachment
20% control group -> disinhibited attachment

Question 12

What are the effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 12

Disinhibited attachment
Mental retardation

Question 13

How is disinhibited attachment explained by Rutter?

Answer 13

An adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation

Question 14

How can mental retardation be recovered?

Answer 14

If the child is adopted before the age of 6 months before attachments form (rutter’s study showed these children caught up with the control by age 4)

Question 15

What are the strengths of Romanian orphan studies?

Answer 15

Real-life application -> findings of these studies lead to improvements in orphanages & how orphans are cared for which shows such research has been immensely valuable in practical terms

Fewer EVs than other studies -> Romanian orphan studies have made it possible for institutionalisation to be studied without confounding variables e.g. trauma or loss which increases internal validity

Question 16

What are the limitations of Romanian orphan studies?

Answer 16

Ethical issues -> children weren’t randomly assigned to conditions & researchers didnt interfere with the adoption process which means children that were adopted could have been more sociable (confounding variable) but the Bucharest early intervention project randomly allocated children to institutional care or fostering but that raises ethical issues

Long term effects aren’t clear -> cant say with certainty whether children who suffered short/long term effects of institutionalisation because children who spent longer in institutions & & currently lag back in intellectual development may catch up as adults & vice versa