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Psychology | Wiley | Genie Case Study Name:right1035300What is it that makes us truly human? What would we be like without human socialization or love and affection from caretakers? To what extent can human beings recover from trauma? Is there a critical period in which we must learn language, or can we learn it at any point in our development? These are just some of the questions raised by the Genie Case Study, one of the most well-known studies in developmental psychology. Summary of the Genie Study:455993555880000She was called "Genie" to protect her privacy, because since infancy her life had been bottled up in the horrors she experienced in one dimly lit room. Alternately tethered to a “potty seat” or tied up in a sleeping bag in a mesh-sided crib under a metal cover, Genie had contact only with her abusive father during nearly 12 years of confinement. After her emergence from that torture in 1970, the fragile child became a cause to celebrate among psychologists and do-gooders who wanted both to learn from her and save her. When she entered Children's Hospital at the age of 14 -- still in diapers -- Genie was the size of an 8-year-old with the language and motor skills of a baby. The staff assigned to Genie's care applied for a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study Genie's rehabilitation. The hottest academic issue of the day was the 1967 Lenneberg theory that maintained that children cannot learn language after puberty. In some ways, Genie disproved this, but she had passed the "critical period" and was never able to master grammatical structure. From 1971 to 1975, a multidisciplinary team used Genie as a case study -- "Developmental Consequence of Extreme Social Isolation" -- under the direction of Dr. David Rigler. The team was mesmerized by her charisma and curiosity. Susie Curtiss, just out of graduate school in theoretical linguistics, was a member of the team and worked with Genie on language acquisition. "I was a very young woman given the chance of a lifetime," Curtiss, now a professor of linguistics at UCLA. "She wasn't socialized, and her behavior was distasteful, but she just captivated us with her beauty," said Curtiss, who took the child on daily outings. "I spent most of my time being a human being, relating to her and we fell in love with each other," Curtiss said. Curtiss described Genie as "highly communicative," despite the fact that she spoke fewer than 20 words at the onset. She often made her needs known by gesturing or other means, and she loved being stroked and hugged, and learned to hug back, according to Curtiss. When she was upset, at first she had a "tearless cry," but eventually she "showed emotion very clearly." In her textbook, "Genie: A Psycholinguistic Study of a Modern-Day Child," Curtiss described how Genie eventually could use limited language to describe her father's cruelty: "Father Hit Arm. Big Wood. Genie Cry." Genie's life since her release has been full of ups and downs -- a succession of breakthroughs, setbacks and manipulations at the hands of caregivers, researchers and foster homes. During the four years she was under the intense care of specialists at Children's Hospital at UCLA, Genie progressed, but only briefly. Though she eventually learned to speak, the team of credentialed doctors with millions of dollars in federal funding could not rescue Genie from a fate of abuse and exploitation. Doctors argued over her care and affections. Finger-pointing, hateful allegations and a lawsuit followed. Even storytellers and filmmakers took sides, and ultimately, Genie regressed. Because of the Genie study, doctors now know that grammatical development needs linguistic stimulation. When children are isolated from language, a window closes and they lose the ability to speak in sentences. This case study suggested that there is a special period in early childhood when it is easiest for people to learn language. With that being said, psychologists cannot know for sure, on the basis of Genie’s experience alone, whether the theory of a special language-learning period in childhood is correct. Perhaps other unknown factors (intellectual disability?) were responsible for Genie’s apparent inability to achieve full language competence. 46594641910600Documentary Questions – Genie: Secret of the Wild Child (PBS) Why was Genie called the “wild child”? Describe her condition and behaviors when she was discovered at age 13:What question did Genie’s sleep study raise that puzzled the scientists for years?Describe some of Genie’s progress in the early months of her care:Describe the case of Victor, from Southern France (1800) and the conclusions drawn from his case study: Why were participants unlikely to agree on the course of action for Genie?Describe the linguistic theories of: Noam Chomsky:Eric Lenneberg:What did Susan Curtiss uncover about Genie’s linguistics?What was Genie disconnected from?Though Genie’s distress over her childhood is evident, it also revealed something important:45829331587500Why did Itard abandon his study of Victor?Why was the decision made to teach Genie sign language?What was the unresolved question of Genie’s mental state? How did Susan Curtiss respond to this question?Why was the research project on Genie abandoned?What conclusions did Susan Curtiss make regarding Genie’s language development? Why did Genie’s mother initiate a lawsuit against the scientists, psychologists, and linguists who had worked with Genie for years? (Note: it was later settled out of court.)What did Louise Monaco (one of the lawyers) critique about the research conducted on Genie?For what reasons did Genie regress?Post-Viewing Question:What, if anything, could have been done differently so that science and the stability and welfare of Genie could have been served? What would have been the ideal combination of treatment, therapy, and research for Genie? Be specific. ................
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