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Geniie Willey The Feral Child Case Study

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Through extensive research within the field of neurolinguistics, scientist and linguists have discovered how the brain works, and how this can be stimulated through an essential element, such as social interaction, in order to develop the intricate system of verbal communication. This essay is intended to discuss the role of the human brain in the development of language as well as the connection with a critical period for its acquisition taking into consideration the case study of Genie Willey, the feral child. To start with, it is paramount to understand how the brain divides its functions, which at the same time corresponds to the physical division of the organ itself. Being divided into two hemispheres and connected by the corpus callosum, each hemisphere is specialized in the performance of specific functions. Generally speaking, while the right hemisphere is in charge of the execution of intuition, creativity, imagination, artistic awareness and holistic thought, the left side is responsible for logic, reasoning, analytic thought, science and maths, number skills and most importantly for our study, language. Lateralization of language in the left hemisphere starts in early childhood, around the second year of life, and it is …show more content…

The unfortunate story of the feral child, Genie Willey, is one of those striking events that gave scientist the opportunity to confirm some of the theories which were under the spotlight for many years. Found in the 1970s in Los Angeles, California, at the age of thirteen years old, Genie (name chosen to protect the child’s real identity), was discovered in a state of complete isolation from the outside world. Consequently, this state of isolation resulted in the child’s inability to verbally communicate, hence affecting her cognitive

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It sends information for sleep, hearing, taste, and even eye movement. Corpus Callosum: The corpus callosum connects both hemispheres of the brain and allows them to relay messages between one another. People who have a severed corpus callosum can essentially function as 2 different people at the same time, with the left half of their body performing one task, and the right half another. Frontal Lobe: As the largest lobe in our brain, this lobe play a significant role in personality and impulse control.

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After her petition to become her foster mother was denied, Genie moved in with Rigler and his family, where it is believed she made some successful breakthroughs in learning to draw, sew, study sign language, and take part in speech therapy. Curtiss would frequently take Genie outside and expose her to the world. After four years, the Riglers’ could no longer care of Genie because the grant used to take care of her ran out. The funding was not supplemented again, and Genie then moved to several foster homes, and even lived with her mother for a short period. The foster homes were often abusive, a seemingly common theme in Genie’s life, which regressed Genie’s development.

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The theme of Desirée’s Baby, by Kate Chopin, is the role of racism and gender biases during the Civil War; to be more specific, the superiority of Caucasians to African Americans, and the subordinate role of women to men. During the Civil War, women and slaves were the most oppressed beings in the world. African Americans were looked down upon and seen as a lesser human only because of the color of their skin. Likewise, women were looked down upon only because society said they were to be.

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The author, Russ Rymer, brilliantly tells us the melancholy story of a little girl named Genie who endured much pain and misery throughout her early life. Genie is not her real name, but her scientific alias. Genie suffered through a horrific childhood being beaten and isolated from the world. She had a mother and a father. Her father, Clark, was very abusive to Genie and caused her a lot of pain.

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Feral Child Task This task will majorly focus on the lack of social and cognitive development of Genie and its connection with Piaget’s and Erickson’s human psychological development theories. As one of the most well- known feral children in the 20th century, the young girl Genie had been confined to a room, isolated and abused by her parents for over a decade before the rescue. Due to the severely abnormal development occurred in the childhood, Genie’s linguistic ability was nearly undeveloped, her limbs were not fully extended, her development was delayed from various perspectives.

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1005 Words | 5 Pages

What is the evidence that early childhood is a sensitive time for learning language? Social interaction, myelination, brain maturation, and scaffolding are evidence that early childhood is a sensitive time for learning language. In addition, children in early childhood are considered “language sponges” because they absorb every bit of language they hear or read. How does fast-mapping aid the language explosion?

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(Lubenow, 2004) in a lesser extent disagrees and argues that according to biological analysis of different areas of the brain it is indicated that H. Erectus was incapable of speech. Additionally examinations of Broca's area (the area responsible for hierarchical organization of grammar and manual manipulation of object) was well-developed, however analyses of Wernick's area (the part of the cerebral cortex responsible for the production and comprehension of meaningful speech) showed uncertain development, making it impossible for H. Erectus to be capable of meaningful communication through speech. This argument showcases two approaches of analyses, with one

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As Genie cognitively progresses throughout the years after rescue, she gains the abilities to respond to others and interact with certain objects. Even though she did not properly develop her self identity during her childhood, there is evidence that she is beginning to conceptualize her sense of self during her teen years. Feral children, such as Genie, lack a self concept impairing their development. However, in order to solve this, they must require the agents of socialization, immerse themselves in culture, and undergo socialization methods, such as Mead’s “Stages of the Self.” Through constant nurturing and therapy, Genie would have a chance to develop her sense of self and recovery from her previous, feral state.

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In line with this is the Piaget 's Stage Theory with the assumption that the other people were not necessary for the acquisition of new skills and practices. For Genie 's case, this has been reversed (the theory might not be necessarily wrong), with the fact that in her cognitive development started when she was older than 13 years of age. After the transfer of Genie to LA children 's Hospital, pediatricians, psychologists, and linguists treated her. Exposing her outside hospital, everything is a new experience for her, and it had great progresses, as she learned to play, chew, dress herself, and enjoy music. She was enthusiastic, she was learning the words for the things around her, and she engaged with the people around her.

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988 Words | 4 Pages

A feral child is a referred to a human child who has been isolated from human contact and has had minimal human contact from a very young age, and has minimal or no human care, loving or social behaviour, and crucially of human language (Keith, 2008). The behavioural development of a feral child illustrates abnormalities of its basic process, biological, person and socio-cultural behaviours. Oxana Malaya, also known as ‘The Dog Girl’ portrayed abnormal characteristics. Oxana’s case demonstrates her strange behaviour caused my nurture.

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Summary Of The Genie Wiley Documenary The Genie Wiley documentary is about a 13 year old girl who is discovered to of been severely socially isolated from human contact for over 10 years. Taking place in the 1970s once Genie had been accidentally exposed to The children AIDS society when her blind mother walked into the establishment by mistake. The agency got custody of Genie almost immediately. When Genie became property of The children's hospital she was 13 years old entirely un verbal and still in diapers.

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799 Words | 4 Pages

The reason why Genie's case was so fascinating to psychologists and linguists was that it presented a unique opportunity. They were able to study a hotly contested debate about language development and human growth. Nativists believe that the capacity for language is something that is done naturally. Empiricists think that it is the environment that someone is in plays a key role in human development.

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While isolated, Genie had no sense of self, had no ideas of social norms and her only agents of socialization were her parents. While under the care of the hospital and others, she was able to learn and express herself in ways that she was never allowed to before. Finally, able to speak, Genie became able to pronounce simple words. After years of learning, Genie has never been able to fully communicate and has never grasped using questions and sentences. Genie’s influences and insights are accurately described by the sociological concepts

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630 Words | 3 Pages

Studies show that nurture has a bigger impact than nature. A feral child is a kid who has lived away from human contact, and she/he has little experience of being taught stuff. Studies show that feral children are not as smart, and they are “babies” when they are found. A girl named Jeanie was found when she was 13. When they found her, she acted like a baby.

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This suggestion works in accordance to the evidence that suggests that the brain is predisposed to have certain areas specifically designed for language processing and development. For example, Gazzaniga (1986) stated that language processing occurs in the left hemisphere of the

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