AS Psychology: Romanian Orphanages Studies
- Created by: EliHussein
- Created on: 14-12-15 18:17
View mindmap
- Rutters Work: Romanian Orphans (1998)
- Professor Michael Rutter and his team were interested in seeing whether the effects of institutional care and privation could be overcome by the long term provision of a more nurturing and enriching enviroment.
- Aim: To assess whether loving and nuturing care could overturn the effects of privation the children had suffered in Romanian orphanages.
- This was a longitudinal study, incorporating a quasi experiment.
- The independant variable was the age of adoption. (Three age groups were studied)
- Condition 1: Children adopted before the age of 6 months.
- Condition 2: Children adopted between 6 months and 2 years.
- Condition 3: Children adopted after 2 years.
- Condition 2: Children adopted between 6 months and 2 years.
- Condition 1: Children adopted before the age of 6 months.
- The dependant variable was the childrens leel of cognitive functioning.
- 111 Romanian orphans were intially assessed for height, head circumferenceand cognitive functioning on arrival in Britain.
- All children were assessed again at age 4, 6, 11 and 15.
- Around 50% of the Romanian orphans were not retarded in cognitive functioning at initial assessment and most were underweight.
- At age 4 years, the Romanian orphans showed great improvments in physical and cognitive development, with the orphans adopted before 6 months of age doing as well as the british adopted children.
- A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time have served as a control group.
- In terms of attachment, there was different outcomes related to whether adoption took place before or after eix months.
- Those children adopted after they were 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment.
- Symptons of disinhibited attachment include attention seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards adults both familiar and unfamiliar.
- The children adopted before 6 moths, rarely displayed disinhibited attachement
- Those children adopted after they were 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment.
Comments
No comments have yet been made