Evaluation

• What improvements have been made in how orphaned and children's homes are run based on research findings?


  They now limit the number of carers to one or two, with a key worker for each child.
• Why is having a key worker important in children's homes?


  It encourages secure attachment between the child and the carer.
• What is a strength of the research on orphaned children?


  • It has real-life applications.
  • It has improved the lives of real children in orphanages.
• What is a counterpoint regarding the research findings on older adopted children?


  It suggests that children adopted at a later age may be worse off, affecting adoption rates.
• What are extraneous variables?


  Variables that can affect the outcome of a study but are not the focus of the research.
• What is a confounding variable?


  A variable that affects one group in a study but not the other.
• How do Romanian orphan studies compare to other research on orphans regarding extraneous variables?


  They have fewer extraneous participant variables than other orphan studies.
• What unique circumstances did Romanian orphans experience compared to other orphaned children?


  They did not experience trauma, abuse, or bereavement like many other orphans.
• What does high internal validity in the Romanian orphan research imply?


  It suggests that observed effects are truly due to institutionalization.
• What were the conditions like in Romanian orphanages?


  They had particularly poor standards of care and low levels of intellectual stimulation.
• What are situational extraneous variables?


  Variables that wouldn’t be present in other research on institutionalization.
• Why might the results of the Romanian orphan research not be generalizable?


  Because the conditions in Romanian orphanages are unique and not representative of other orphanages.
• What is a counterpoint regarding the adoption of older children based on the research?


  It shows there isn’t a concern with adopting older children, making it more socially sensitive.
• What issue arises from the lack of random allocation in the adoption conditions of the study?


  It raises concerns about internal validity due to potential confounding variables.
• What might happen if more sociable children were adopted first?


  It could lead to existing differences between children before they were adopted.
• How do confounding variables affect the interpretation of the effects of institutionalization?


  They make it difficult to determine if the effects are due to age of adoption or other factors.