Attachment: The Effects Of Institutionalisation & Romanian Orphan Studies MR

Question 1

Give an example of an institution

Answer 1

An orphanage

Question 2

Define institutionalisation

Answer 2

Children spending a long period of time living outside of the family home within an institution.

Question 3

Name the three effects of institutionalisation

Answer 3

1) Reactive attachment disorder
2) Disinhibited attachment
3) Cognitive impairment

Question 4

Which effect of institutionalisation is being described?

“Caused by an an extreme lack of sensitive responsiveness from a parent. The child grows up unable to trust or love others, is isolated and can become sociopathic”

Answer 4

Reactive attachment disorder

Question 5

Which effect of institutionalisation involves a child who choose attachment figures indiscriminately and behave in an overly familiar way with complete strangers e.g. being affectionate.

Answer 5

Disinhibited attachment

Question 6

Which effect of institutionalisation involves a delay in intellectual development for example low IQ and problems with concentration?

Answer 6

Cognitive impairment

Question 7

Which effect of institutionalisation is caused by long periods of institutional care in early life with children having multiple different caregivers during this sensitive period for attachment formation?

Answer 7

Disinhibited attachment

Question 8

Name the ways in which a child’s cognitive ability may be impaired as a result of institutionalisation

Answer 8

Low IQ
Problems with concentration
Difficulty learning new information and behaviours

Question 9

Who carried out research into the effects of institutionalisation in Romanian orphans?

Answer 9

Rutter

Question 10

Rutter conducted a longitudinal study in 1998, and assessed the children at what ages?

Answer 10

6, 6, 11 and 15.

Question 11

What was the IV in Rutter’s study?

Answer 11

The age of adoption

Question 12

Rutter studies three groups - what were they?

Answer 12

Adopted before age of 6 months
Adopted between 6 months and 2 years
Adopted after the age of two years

Question 13

How many Romanian orphans did Rutter study?

Answer 13

111

Question 14

Who did Rutter compare the group of Romanian orphans to?

Answer 14

A control group of 52 British adopted children

Question 15

How many British adopted children did Rutter compare the Romanian orphans to?

Answer 15

52

Question 16

What percentage of the Romanian orphans showed signs of cognitive impairment and were severely undernourished when they arrived in the UK?
40%, 50% or 60%?

Answer 16

50%

Question 17

What percentage of the Romanian orphans showed signs of cognitive impairment and were severely undernourished when they arrived in the UK?

Answer 17

50%

Question 18

By the age of 4 which group of children were most likely to show a higher level of disinhibited attachment?

a) those adopted before 6 months
b) those adopted between 6 months and 2 years
c) those adopted after the age of two (late adoptees)

Answer 18

c) those adopted after the age of two (late adoptees)

Question 19

What did Rutter find about the cognitive abilities (IQ) of children adopted later (after two) compared to those adopted before the age of 6 months?

Answer 19

Children adopted after the age of two had lower mean IQ compared to those adopted before 6 months who showed ‘normal’ IQ.

Question 20

What did Rutter conclude about the effects of institutional care?

a) It can never be overcome no matter what age the child is adopted into nurturing care
b) Some negative effects can be overcome by sensitive, nurturing care, especially if the adoption takes place earlier
c) Institutional care has no negative effects on children

Answer 20

b) Some negative effects can be overcome by sensitive, nurturing care, especially if the adoption takes place earlier

Question 21

What did Rutter conclude about the effects of institutional care?

a) It can never be overcome no matter what age the child is adopted into nurturing care
b) Some negative effects can be overcome by sensitive, nurturing care, especially if the adoption takes place earlier
c) Institutional care has no negative effects on children

Answer 21

b) Some negative effects can be overcome by sensitive, nurturing care, especially if the adoption takes place earlier

Question 22

A03 Give one example of practical applications of Rutter’s research into institutional care.

Answer 22

Avoiding putting children into institutional care e.g. foster carers or adoptive parents.

OR

Children in children’s homes having one or two key workers to give emotional care.

Question 23

Two effects of institutionalisation are reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited attachment. What is the third?

Answer 23

Cognitive impairment

Question 24

Two effects of institutionalisation are disinhibited attachment and cognitive impairment. What is the third?

Answer 24

Reactive attachment disorder

Question 25

Two effects of institutionalisation are reactive attachment disorder and cognitive impairment. What is the third?

Answer 25

Disinhibited attachment.

Question 26

A03 Why does Rutter’s research have higher control over EV’s compared to other studies?

a) Because the children had experienced trauma and neglect before being adopted which may have affected their development
b) Because the children were less likely to have experienced trauma and neglect because they had parents who loved them but had to give them up because they could not afford to keep them.

Answer 26

b) Because the children were less likely to have experienced trauma and neglect because they had parents who loved them but had to give them up because they could not afford to keep them.

Question 27

A03 Rutter’s research was naturally experiment - the three conditions were the different ages of the adoption (before 6 months, 6 months- 2 years and after 2 years). Because of this what was it NOT possible for Rutter to do?

Answer 27

Randomly allocate the children to different conditions.

Question 28

A03 What confounding variables affected Rutter’s study?

Answer 28

1) Quality of care in the different orphanages

OR

2) The children could not be randomly assigned to the different conditions

Question 29

A03 Why couldn’t Rutter randomly assign the children to the different conditions (adopted before 6 months, adopted between 6 months and 2 years, adopted after 2 years)?

Answer 29

Because it was a naturally occurring IV that it would be unethical to manipulate.

Question 30

Rutter used a natural experiment - what was the naturally occurring IV?

Answer 30

Age children were adopted at.

Question 31

Why is Rutter’s research an example of a longitudinal study?

Answer 31

The study began in 1998 and the children’s were assessed over years as they got older.

Question 32

What year did Rutter’s research start?

Answer 32

1998

Question 33

True or False:

The IV in Rutter’s research is the children’s development

The DV in Rutter’s research is the age of adoption

Answer 33

FALSE! It is the other way around :)