Practise IB Psychology SL 3.2.8 questions by discussing research on childhood deprivation or trauma and its effects on later development.
To what extent does deprivation and/or trauma in childhood affect later development?
Refer to the paper 2 assessment criteria when awarding marks.
The command term "to what extent" requires candidates to consider the merits or otherwise of the potential effects of deprivation or trauma in childhood on later development.
Candidates may address both deprivation and trauma experiences or candidates may choose to discuss only deprivation or only trauma experiences. In either case, these experiences do not have to be specifically identified as deprivation or trauma situations.
Candidates may address biological, cognitive and/or social aspects of later development. All approaches are equally acceptable.
Relevant theories may include, but are not limited to:
- Cyrulnik's (2005) theory of resilience
- Bowlby's (1951) maternal deprivation hypothesis
- Spitz's (1946) psychodynamic theory
- Tedeschi and Calhoun's (2004) theory on positive aspects of trauma experiences.
It would also be appropriate to refer to studies related to short-term or long-term effects of deprivation and/or trauma, such as:
- Robertson and Bowlby's (1952) studies showing that maternal deprivation may cause physical, mental and emotional growth retardation
- Rutter et al.'s (2001) studies demonstrating that the consequences of deprivation vary with the severity and duration of the depriving experience, the age of the child at which the deprivation occurs and the adequacy of substitute measures such as the quality of the caretaker
- Cockett and Tripp's (1994) study on long-term attachment deprivation effects.
Candidates may refer to animal studies as part of their response, and credit should be awarded for this as long as they relate the findings to human development.
Deprivation and/or trauma may have detrimental effects, may not have long-lasting effects or may even lead to growth (for example, resilience) in later development. In order to gain high marks, responses should include some consideration of non-detrimental effects.