ROMANIAN ORPHAN STUDIES Flashcards
what are the two effects of institutionalization?
disinhibited attachment
damage to intellectual development
what is disinhibited attachment?
child is equally friendly and affectionate to strangers and people they know
what can disinhibited attachment be a product of?
adaptation to multiple caregivers
what did Rutter conduct?
English Romanian Adoptee study
what was the aim of Rutter’s research?
to test to what extent good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions
at what ages was physical cognitive and emotional development measured?
4, 6, 11 and 15
what development were measured in Rutter research?
physical, emotional and cognitive
who was the control group in Rutter’s research?
52 British adoptees
what were Rutter’s findings of his experiment when looking at the orphans at the start?
half of the orphans showed signs of mental retardation when first coming into the UK
what did recovery rates relate to at age 11?
the age of their adoption
those adopted before six months had a mean IQ of..
102
those adopted between six months and two years had a mean IQ of..
86
those adopted after two years had a mean IQ of…
77
what else was affected by the age of adoption?
the frequency of disinhibited attachment
what did children adopted after six months have in relation to disinhibited attachment?
clinginess, attention-seeking and indiscriminate affection
what did Rutter conclude from his study?
supports there is a sensitive period in development of attachments and without this attachment they can have long lasting effects
who conducted the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?
Zeanah et al
who was the sample for Zeanah et al’s experiment?
95 children aged 12-31 months who spent life in institutions
who were the children in Zeanah et al’s study compared to?
a control group of 50 children who were never in institutional care
Zeanah et al found that only __% of the institutionalized children were securely attached
19%
what percentage of children in Zeanah et al’s study were classified with a disorganised attachment?
65%
what does Romanian orphan studies have?
important practical application
why does Rutter research have important practical application?
because the results have led to improvements in institutions
how have children’s homes/institutions been improved found by Langton?
avoid having a large number of caregivers for each child and only have 1/2 key workers
how does children only having 1/2 key workers improve their life?
gives the child a chance to develop and develop normal attachments, in order to avoid disinhibited attachment
what does Romanian orphan studies have few of?
confounding variables
what were previous confounding variables in other Romanian orphan studies?
they had experienced a loss which meant neglect, abuse and bereavement made it hard to observe the effects of institutionalization independently
why did Romanian orphan studies allow the effects of institutionalization to be studied independently?
because most were abandoned at birth
since Romanian orphan studies have fewer confounding variables what does this increase?
internal validity
why are there issues with generalisability in Romanian studies?
because the conditions of orphanages were extremely bad, doesn’t apply to institutional care
what did Romanian orphanages struggle with especially?
forming any relationship with children
what type of variable is it if the Romanian orphanages conditions are unique?
situational variables
what is not clear in studies about institutionalized children?
the long term effects
why are the long term effects of orphan studies not clear?
because adopted orphans have only been followed into their mid tens
what can children who lag in intellectual development have a chance of?
have a chance of catching up when they are adults
what can be said about fostered/adopted children in light of long term effects?
they could experience emotional problems as adults
