Heston (1966) adoption studies

Question 1

what is the method for Heston’s study?

Answer 1

47 adopted children whose biological mothers had schizophrenia were studied
the control group consisted of 50 adopted children whose biological mothers didn’t suffer from the condition
the children were followed up as adults and interviewed and given intelligence and personality tests

Question 2

what were the results of the study?

Answer 2

of the experimental group, 5 of the 47 became schizophrenic compared to 0 in the control group
another 4 of the control group were classified as borderline schizophrenic

Question 3

what is the conclusions of the study?

Answer 3

the study supports the view that schizophrenia has a genetic basis

Question 4

what was the evaluation of the study?

Answer 4

interview data can be unreliable and affected by social desirability affect
interviews are a good way of getting data in a naturalistic way