Development (continued)
Learning Objectives
1. Define the term “wild child”
2. Explain theories of language development.
3. Discuss how neglect and social isolation
affect cognitive (mental) and physical
development.
4. Evaluate the roles of nature (heredity) and
nurture (experiences) in development.
Key Terms: wild (feral) child; abuse; nature vs.
nurture debate; language acquisition device; babbling
stage; one-word stage; two-word stage; Eric
Lenneberg; Noam Chomsky; critical period; plasticity
Definition
Feral Child – a child who has lived in
isolation starting at a very
young age and thereby has
remained unaware of human
behavior and language
Romulus & Remus
Mowgli & Tarzan
Feral Children
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Victor – (early 1800s) The wild boy of Aveyron. Found in
the woods at about 11 or 12. He was probably partially
mentally retarded. He never learned to use language.
Isabelle – Found at 6 (1947). In two months she was
combining words. Within a year she had similar
language to other 7 year olds.
Genie – (1970) 13 year old girl had lived whole life in
total isolation in her home. She may or may not have
been of normal intelligence but never able to acquire
language.
Victor – The Wild Boy of Aveyron
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Captured in January 1800
Estimated to be about 10
years old
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His desires did not go
beyond his physical needs
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He could not speak or
understand human language
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He preferred raw food and
ripped of any clothes that were put
on him
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Victor - The Wild Boy of Aveyron
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Diagnosed as an
“incurable idiot”
Put through numerous
tests (psychological and
physiological)
Made small progress in
social behavior
Never learned to speak
or understand human
language
Isabelle
An illegitimate child she had been kept in isolation by her grandfather and fed
by her deaf-mute mother (who communicated with her through gestures)
 Found 1938 at the age of 6 in Ohio
 Made Astonishing progress:
Day 1 -> first vocalization
after 2 months -> putting sentences together
11 months-> able to identify written words, to add to ten and
to retell a story
18 months -> able to ask complicated questions;
vocabulary of about 1,500 – 2,000 words
 Reached a normal mentality by the age of eight and a half years
 Covered in 2 years the usual stages of learning- that ordinarily requires six!
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Genie
Characteristics:
Weight- 59 pounds
Height- 54 inches
Incontinent
Unable to chew
Barely able to swallow
Unable to focus her eyes beyond 12 feet
Unable to cry
Could not fully extend her arms or legs
Could not tell the difference between hot
and cold
Spoke very little. “Stopit”, “Nomore”,
and other negative
She only understood about 20 words
Genie
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From the age of 20 months, she lived in nearly total isolation. For 11 years Genie
was harnessed naked all day long to a toddler's potty seat At night, with her arms
restrained, she slept in a sleeping bag inside a "crib-cage" made of wire and
wood.
Whenever Genie made noise, her father would bark like a ferocious dog or beat
her.
Her 'toys' were cottage cheese containers, two plastic raincoats, & threadless
spools of thread,
Found in November 1970 in California, at 13 years of age she could not stand
erect and was unable to speak except 2 words: “Stopit“, “Nomore“
1971: her language resembled that of a normal 18-20 months old child (one year
after her discovery)
 two-word utterances, EX. “Want milk.“, “Big teeth“
But: NO vocabulary explosion after 18-20 months
Could not formulate questions,
EX “Where is may I have a penny?“
“I where is graham cracker on the top shelf ?“
Present condition: speech development is not perfect, but she can say most
things she wants; lives in an adult foster home in California
Children raised by animals
Kamala and Amala
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The “wolf children“ Kamala (8y.) and Amala (2y.)
had been living with a family of wolves in a cave in a
jungle in India
In 1920, they were discovered in Midnapore, by a
missionary who took charge of them
Preferred to sit in the darkest corner of their room
Fingers and toes were deformed, they were not able to
stand upright
snarled at other kids and cried like wolves
Amala died in September 1921
Within 5 years Kamala had a vocabulary of more than 40
words: “ha“ (yes), “hoo“ (cold); she was also able to name
objects
1929: Kamala died
Children raised by animals
Oxana Malaya
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At the age of 3, her alcoholic parents left her neglected daughter outside one
night and she crawled into a hovel where the family kept dogs
Between the ages of 3 and 8, she lived with the dogs in a kennel of the back
garden of her family home
In 1991, the “dog child“ was found in Ukraine, barking and crawling on all
fours
At an orphanage school, she was taught to walk upright, to eat with her
hands and to acquire language;
2006: at the age of 23, she is able to speak, but there is no cadence or rhythm
or inflection to her speech; she can count but not add
How do people learn to speak a
language?
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One theory, called the Environmentalist Hypothesis, holds that
people learn language through their interactions with others,
especially from hearing their parents speak.
Another is that individuals are born with the rules for language
ingrained in them (called nativist theory of language.
Noam Chomsky theorized humans are born with a
language acquisition device LAD
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A third proposal, the Critical-Period Hypothesis, states that
people must learn language within a critical period during early
development if they are ever to comprehend and master the
structure of language (Eric Lenneberg)
The Critical Period Hypothesis
(Lenneberg, 1967)
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Before age 2, language acquisition is not possible because the
brain is not sufficiently mature

After puberty, natural language acquisition is not obtainable
because the brain is mature, mental functions is complete and
brain plasticity is lost

In order to acquire language, there are two necessary
requirements:
1. a human brain
2. sufficient exposure to language during this critical
period between the age of 2 years and puberty
Normal Language Development
AGE
Language milestone
4m
Babbling stage; appears innate, even babies born deaf
go through the babbling stage
1 year
from babbling to words; one word stage (holophrastic
stage) Ex. “Milk”
18 m
Two word stage (or telegraphic stage) Ex. “Want kitty”
3-10y
Begin to learn grammar and syntax rules Ex. “Sam
hitted my head with a toy.”
11-14y
If you are learning a second language at this age you
probably have “foreign accent”
15y +
Is difficult to learn a second language
Language
Nature vs. Nuture
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So the main question for Genie’s case:
Was she mentally disabled from birth? (nature)
 Or was she deprived of language after her ‘critical
period’? (nurture)

Was Genie Mentally Disabled From
Birth?
Susan Curtiss: Genie, although functionally retarded because she had
hardly lived and experienced the world around her, was not mentally deficient
in any sense in which we typically think of as mentally deficient.
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Conclusion

Some feral children acquire normal language ability, but only
if found before the onset of puberty
(EX. Isabelle)
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Other feral children never master the rules of grammar and
syntax

Unless children are exposed to language in the critical period,
they lose much of their innate ability to learn a language and
especially its grammatical principles

The Critical Period Hypothesis is not proven, but it is
strongly supported!
Secret of a Wild Child
Viewing Guide
Focus Questions
Can a loving environment reverse years
of abuse and neglect?
Do people learn language from their
environment or are they born with an
innate ability to speak (Nature vs.
Nurture debate)
If a person has not acquired language by
the age of 13, can they learn to speak?
Copy the following questions. Skip 3-4
lines for your answer. Turn in for a grade.
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1. Explain the concept of a “wild child”.
2. What kinds of scientific study/research opportunities
does discovering a wild child offer?
3. Describe the abuse Genie suffered. Who were her
abusers?
4. At the age of 13 why can’t she talk?
5. Who was Victor? How does the story of Victor
relate to Genie?
6. Why was Genie’s case so important to language
researchers?
7. Describe Genie’s treatment and progress?
8. Who do you think should get custody of Genie? Who
really cares about Genie?
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9. What happened to Genie when the Rigler's grant
money ran out?
10. Was Genie’s brain damaged from years of abuse or
was she born that way?
11. How do you feel about the court’s decision to
return Genie to her mother’s care? About her mother’s
lawsuit?
12. In your opinion is this a sad or an inspiring story?
EXPLAIN.
13. Where is Genie today?
14. Why would an experiment like Genie’s never be
repeated?
Any Questions?
Who was the scientist in charge of studying Genies's language
development?
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Eric Lennenburg
Noam Chomsky
Susan Curtiss
David Rigler
The idea that principles of language are innate (i.e. genetically
transmitted) was proposed by:
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Noam Chomsky
Susan Curtiss
Eric Lennerburg
B.F. Skinner
Genie's language therapists switched to teaching her sign
language because:
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She refused to use her voice
Her parents had used some sign language with her
She had difficulty producing speech sounds
She had started to use gestures on her own
In the end, the scientist involved in evaluating Genie concluded that she:
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Had learned some vocabulary, but had very abnormal language
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Would make more progress with sign language than with spoken
language
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Could not learn language due to the possible mental retardation
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Would continue to learn language, but it would occur slowly
Genie, her nearly blind mother, and her elderly
grandmother disturbed the social worker. The three had come
into the Social Welfare office in Temple City, California, to learn
about resources for the blind. The date was November 1970.
The social worker noticed that the "small withered girl" had "a
halting gait" and "hands held up as though resting on an invisible
rail," which gave her a curious, unnaturally stooped posture. The
girl was so tiny that the social worker estimated she might be six
or seven years old. She suspected the child might be autistic. But
Genie was actually thirteen and had been in solitary confinement
since she was two years old. Her 'jailer' was her father.
In the next few weeks, Genie's story came to light,
and, shortly after it did, Genie's father killed himself.
The father had locked Genie up to protect her from
what he considered the dangers of the outside world.
During those 11 years, Genie was harnessed naked all
day long to a toddler's potty seat. At night, with her
arms restrained, she slept in a sleeping bag inside a
"crib-cage" made of wire and wood. Whenever Genie
made noise, her father would bark like a ferocious dog
or beat her.
Genie ate baby food, cereals, and soft-boiled eggs,
all of which were fed to her. Her 'toys' were cottage
cheese containers, two plastic raincoats, threadless
spools of thread, and copies of TV Guide stripped of
illustrations. Her bedroom walls were bare. She had no
books, no radio, no television. The only words
addressed to her were angry ones. She could say
"stopit," "nomore," "no," and a few other negative
words. At age 13, she understood only 20 words.
Genie's father also kept his wife and son, who was
a few years older than Genie, captive. He rarely
permitted them to speak or to go outside. Sometimes,
he sat all day with a loaded shotgun in his lap.
Through a cracked-open window in her room,
Genie may have heard airplanes overhead or faint piano
music drifting from a neighbor's house. Two inches of
sky and the side of a neighbor's house were all that she
could see through the top of the covered glass.