instistionlised unlearn

Question 1

When children grow up in institutions, like orphanages and foster homes, we say that they have been

Answer 1

institutionalised .

Question 2

Hodges and Tizard investigated the effect of

Answer 2

institutionalisation on children’s development by comparing children who had grown up in a residential nursery, children who were placed in a residential nursery and returned to their parents, children who were adopted, and a control group.

Question 3

What type of experiment were they conducting?

Answer 3

Natural experiment

Question 4

Hodges and Tizard found that children who were placed in a residential nursery, but who were then adopted, were able to form strong relationships with their adopted parents.

This provides evidence against Bowlby’s claim that…

Answer 4

The effects of being deprived during the critical period are irreversible

Question 5

Which of the following statements are true about Hodges and Tizard’s study of institutionalisation?

Answer 5

DIt investigated 65 children who had been placed in an institution.

EThe four groups of children were children who were adopted early, children who remained in the institution, children who were returned to their biological parents, and a control group of children who had not been

BIt was a natural experiment.

Question 6

What did Hodges and Tizard find in their study of institutionalisation?

Answer 6

EThe children who experienced privation and remained in the institution, or were returned to their biological parents, experienced impaired emotional development.

BThe children who were adopted early didn’t develop psychological damage.

CThe findings suggest that the effects of privation can be reversed if the children are placed in a loving environment when they’re still young.

Question 7

What kind of experiment were Rutter and his team conducting?

Answer 7

BNatural longitudinal experiment

Question 8

What did Rutter and his team find?

Answer 8

BThe Romanian orphans who were adopted before they were 6 months old showed good emotional development.

EThe Romanian orphans who were adopted after they were 6 months old had long-term emotional and cognitive impairment.

FBritish children displayed good emotional and cognitive development, even if they were adopted after they were 6 months old.


Question 9

What did Rutter and his team conclude?

Answer 9

AThe effects of privation can be reversed, even if the privation is severe, so long as children are introduced into loving homes from a young age.

BThe longer children experience severe privation, the worse their long-term outcomes.

CWorse outcomes can be due to the abuse and neglect that comes with privation, as well as the lack of an attachment figure.

DThe effects of privation can be reversed.

Question 10

When, in a longitudinal design, participants decide that they want to stop taking part in the research part way through the study, we call this…

Answer 10

CAttrition

Question 11

Social desirability bias is…

Answer 11

When participants give incorrect answers so they appear socially acceptable and avoid negative judgments.

Question 12

Two limitations of the research into institutionalisation are…

Answer 12

DFamilies might have displayed social desirability bias meaning a possible underestimation of the negative effects of privation.
AThere is often attrition in longitudinal studies meaning a possible underestimation of the negative effects of privation.

Question 13

Question 1. Which of the following statements correctly describes Hodges and Tizzard’s (1989) study?

Answer 13

BThe study was a longitudinal study investigating the effects of institutionalisation on long-term development.

CThe study compared institutionalised children with non-institutionalised children at age 16, and therefore the IV was naturally occurring.

EThe study involved three experimental groups: children adopted at a young age, children subsequently returned to parents and children who remained in the institution.
HThe study was a natural experiment because the groups were naturally occurring.

Question 14

Question 2: What did Hodges and Tizard find in their study?

Answer 14

FThey found that children who were adopted at a young age had the best outcome, and were able to form loving, strong relationships with their adopted parents.
DThey found that privation could be reversed if the child is placed in a loving, caring environment at a young age.

BThey found that children who remained in the institution or were returned to their parents struggled to form relationships with others and had impaired emotional development.

Question 15

Question 3: What did Rutter do in his study?

Answer 15

CHe investigated the children’s cognitive, emotional and behavioural development using a series of observations, tests and interviews throughout their childhood.

GHe compared the outcomes of children who had been adopted before and after 6 months old.

EHe made use of a naturally occurring situation caused by an excess of poor Romanian orphans being adopted into British families.

Question 16

Question 4: What did Rutter find?

Answer 16

FRomanian children adopted before 6 months old showed good emotional development.

GBritish children adopted after 6 months old did not demonstrate severe psychological damage.

DRomanian children adopted after 6 months old showed severe psychological damage.

BBritish children adopted from orphanages displayed good emotional and cognitive development.

Question 17

Question 5: What does Rutter’s study tell us about the effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 17

EInstitutionalisation beyond the critical period can lead to long-lasting negative effects.

BThe effects of institutionalisation can be reversed if children were given a new attachment figure at a young age.

CThe effects of institutionalisation are partly due to neglect and abuse, and not just due to privation.

Question 18

Question 6: Which of the following are true about Rutter and Hodges and Tizard’s studies?

Answer 18

Both studies were longitudinal, and followed children up at the end of childhood. They both found that the effects of privation can be reversed if the children are placed in a loving environment when they’re still young, however Rutter’s study also suggested that the early treatment of the children can also affect how well the child develops.

Question 19

Question 7: Dr Mace has conducted a longitudinal study on children who were either brought up with their biological parents or who were adopted. He started with 70 children in each group, and contacted the families every 5 years to conduct several cognitive tests on them and to observe them within their family homes at each point of contact. He found that some families had moved away, others did not want to take part and others were not contactable. What is one limitation of using a longitudinal study design in this particular study?

Answer 19

One weakness of using a longitudinal study design is attrition. Attrition is when some of the participants who were originally recruited into the study drop out of the study before it ends. Attrition can influence the results of the study because we don’t know what the outcomes were for the people who dropped out. It is often assumed that those who drop out would have more negative consequences, which could be why they dropped out in the first place.

In terms of Dr. Mace’s study, each time he contacted the families, fewer of them may have been available for the study. It is likely that the families who refused to, or could not continue were the ones who felt their children were not as emotionally adjusted, had psychological harm or had a more unstable environment. Therefore, Mr Mace’s study may underestimate the effects of privation on psychological harm.

Question 20

Aside from attrition, what is one other limitation of the institutionalisation studies by Hodges and Tizard, and Rutter?

Answer 20

The studies used interviews to assess behaviour which might be prone to social desirability bias.

Question 21

Why might this limitation be particularly important in Rutter’s study?

Answer 21

When interviewing any participants, there is a chance that they will respond in a way that they think is expected or desirable. The social desirability bias may be particularly evident in studies discussing relationships and difficult circumstances, like Rutter’s. This means that this issue is even more relevant to Rutter’s study, because the children may exaggerate their experiences, or not admit to difficulties they have had with relationships because they think they may be frowned upon.