Romanian orphan studies Flashcards
What did Rutter (1998) find out about Romanian orphans?
Later adoptees found greater difficulty in achieving good social and cognitive development
The av IQ was 63
Those adopted over 6 months av was 45
Those adopted before 6 months showed fewer characteristics than those adopted after 6 months
What did Bystrova find out about critical periods?
Bystrova compared the effects of skin-to skin contact for 25-120 minutes after birth.
A year later those who had skin-to-skin contact had better mother-infant communication than those without, suggesting there is a very early critical or sensitive period.
What did O’Connor (2000) find about privation?
Romanian children exposed to very severe privation and neglect in Romanian orphanages. 24-42 months showed significant recovery but had cognitive issues than earlier adoptees.
What did Kumsta (2010) find about patterns in deprivation.
Identified 4 patterns associated with institutional deprivation that occurred by the age of 6 and were still present several years later in the minority of children.
Quasi autism – symptoms resembling autism
Disinhibited attachment – lack of wariness of strangers, inappropriate affectionate behaviour, walking off with strangers and leaving caregiver.
Cognitive impairment – low IQ, very general negative effects on cognition including poor GCSE performance
Inattention/over activity – problems with concentration and focusing on the task at hand
What is the summary of romanian orphanage studies
Those brought up in Romanian institutions showed poor social, cognitive and physical development on arrival
What is an evaluation of Romanian studies
FIndings show that studies such as Bowlby who previously believed the effects of privation were permanent were exaggerated
There is a lot of real life application in these studies
Securely attached children are more likely to have better friendships and not get bullied/bully
