A03

• What is a strength (Goldfarb IQ)

  -supporting research

  -Goldfarb found lower IQ scores in children raised in orphanages as opposed to those who had been fostered into a family home.

  -Those raised in orphanage had a mean IQ score of 68 compared to those who had been fostered who had a mean score of 96

  -shows evidence for the intellectual effects of maternal dep
• What is a weakness? (hilda lewis replication)

  -contradictory evidence

  -Hilda Lewis replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale 500 ppts.

  -in her sample early childhood prolonged separation did not predict criminality

  -This goes against Bowlby perhaps suggesting sample used was too small.

  -cannot be generalised
• What is another weakness? (czech twins)

  -there have been cases where children have been seperated during this critical period and not suffered long term effects.

  -e.g Czech twins who were locked in cupboard by stepmother from age 18months-7yrs

  -on their release they were able to form close attachment to two new loving parents
• Why is this a weakness?

  -prolonged separation does not always lead to inability to form attachment

  -can be argued they had each other so were not deprived
• What is another weakness(Rutter)

  -Rutter (1976) argues that Bowlby muddled deprivation with privation and that the long term effect associated with deprivation was more likely to have been caused by privation

  -therefore it may be dude to the fact that the children have never formed an attachment rather than having one and it being broken

  -This suggests that Bowlby may have placed too much cause on the effects of deprivation on children's development
• What is a weakness? (Evidence for the 44 thieves study is flawed)

  -Bowlby conducted the interviews with the children and the families himself

  -This could lead to bias in the findings as he may expect certain children to be affectionless psychopaths

  -These factors mean that the study is distorted by investigator effects