Attachment: The Effects Of Institutionalisation & Romanian Orphan Studies MR Flashcards
Give an example of an institution
An orphanage
Define institutionalisation
Children spending a long period of time living outside of the family home within an institution.
Name the three effects of institutionalisation
1) Reactive attachment disorder
2) Disinhibited attachment
3) Cognitive impairment
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”
Reactive attachment disorder
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.
Disinhibited attachment
Which effect of institutionalisation involves a delay in intellectual development for example low IQ and problems with concentration?
Cognitive impairment
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?
Disinhibited attachment
Name the ways in which a child’s cognitive ability may be impaired as a result of institutionalisation
Low IQ
Problems with concentration
Difficulty learning new information and behaviours
Who carried out research into the effects of institutionalisation in Romanian orphans?
Rutter
Rutter conducted a longitudinal study in 1998, and assessed the children at what ages?
6, 6, 11 and 15.
What was the IV in Rutter’s study?
The age of adoption
Rutter studies three groups - what were they?
Adopted before age of 6 months
Adopted between 6 months and 2 years
Adopted after the age of two years
How many Romanian orphans did Rutter study?
111
Who did Rutter compare the group of Romanian orphans to?
A control group of 52 British adopted children
How many British adopted children did Rutter compare the Romanian orphans to?
52
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%?
50%
What percentage of the Romanian orphans showed signs of cognitive impairment and were severely undernourished when they arrived in the UK?
50%
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)
c) those adopted after the age of two (late adoptees)
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?
Children adopted after the age of two had lower mean IQ compared to those adopted before 6 months who showed ‘normal’ IQ.
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
b) Some negative effects can be overcome by sensitive, nurturing care, especially if the adoption takes place earlier
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
b) Some negative effects can be overcome by sensitive, nurturing care, especially if the adoption takes place earlier
A03 Give one example of practical applications of Rutter’s research into institutional care.
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.
Two effects of institutionalisation are reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited attachment. What is the third?
Cognitive impairment
Two effects of institutionalisation are disinhibited attachment and cognitive impairment. What is the third?
Reactive attachment disorder
Two effects of institutionalisation are reactive attachment disorder and cognitive impairment. What is the third?
Disinhibited attachment.
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.
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.
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?
Randomly allocate the children to different conditions.
A03 What confounding variables affected Rutter’s study?
1) Quality of care in the different orphanages
OR
2) The children could not be randomly assigned to the different conditions
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)?
Because it was a naturally occurring IV that it would be unethical to manipulate.
Rutter used a natural experiment - what was the naturally occurring IV?
Age children were adopted at.
Why is Rutter’s research an example of a longitudinal study?
The study began in 1998 and the children’s were assessed over years as they got older.
What year did Rutter’s research start?
1998
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
FALSE! It is the other way around :)
