HLTC23H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Romanian Orphans, Critical Period Hypothesis, Phonological Development
Document Summary
There is an orphan crisis in all part of the world, but esp. in developing countries and in countries ravaged by war and diseases. Scientists have always been interested in understanding whether orphanage confers adverse effects on long-term health outcomes. Understanding these effects allows us to be able to create interventions, and it informs the understanding of childhood development in general. Role of critical periods and early environment in biological embedding and development. Wanted to investigate the lives of children who were raised in very depriving orphanages. There was a sharp discontinuity between their early and later rearing environment was sudden (they were adopted out to middle class uk families) They went from extreme high risk to extreme low risk rearing environments. Implies that the adverse outcomes should be largely reversible if there is a sufficiently radical change in environment. Later functioning should vary systematically according to differences in the quality of the later environment.
