romanian orphanage studies

• What was revealed about Romanian orphanages in 1990?

  Images of starving, unloved children
• What was the aim of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?

  • Measure attachment type in Romanian orphans
  • Use strange situation categories
• How many children were assessed in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?

  95 children
• What age range did the children in the study fall into?

  12-31 months
• What percentage of the institutionalized group was classed as securely attached?

  19%
• What percentage of the control group was classed as securely attached?

  74%
• What percentage of the institutionalized children were classified as disorganized?

  65%
• What attachment type was described as applying to 44% of institutionalized children?

  Disinhibited attachment
• What are the effects of institutionalization on children?

  • Affects intelligence and emotional development
  • Can lead to disinhibited attachment
  • May result in mental retardation
• What is disinhibited attachment characterized by?

  Attention seeking and clinginess
• What increases the likelihood of disinhibited attachment?

  Having multiple caregivers
• What can happen to children adopted before 6 months of age?

  They can fully recover from effects
• What are the strengths of studying Romanian orphans?

  • Important practical applications for care
  • Fewer confounding variables than other studies
• How have results from Romanian orphan studies improved child care?

  By reducing the number of caregivers
• Why do Romanian orphan studies have fewer confounding variables?

  Most were institutionalized at birth
• What is a weakness of the Romanian orphan studies regarding generalizability?

  Conditions were particularly poor in orphanages
• What is unclear about the long-term effects of early experiences?

  Whether children will catch up as adults
• What are the definitions related to attachment and deprivation?

  • Imposed etic: Applying a theory across cultures
  • Cultural emic: Focus on cultural uniqueness
  • Maternal deprivation: Losing a primary attachment figure
  • Separation: Time apart from an attachment figure
  • Deprivation: Emotional consequences of separation
  • Privation: Failure to form any attachment
• What was the aim of Rutter's ERA study?

  To see if good care can compensate
• How many Romanian orphans were involved in Rutter's study?

  165 Romanian orphans
• What was the control group in Rutter's study?

  52 British babies adopted at the same time
• What was a significant finding regarding the intellectual development of Romanian orphans?

  Half showed delayed intellectual development
• What was the mean IQ of those adopted before 6 months old at age 11?

  102
• What was the mean IQ of those adopted between 6 months and 2 years old at age 11?

  77
• What attachment style was observed in those adopted after 6 months old?

  Disinhibited attachment
• How is disinhibited attachment characterized?

  By lack of stranger anxiety
• Is disinhibited attachment part of Ainsworth’s attachment types?

  No, it is a different style