Privation (Genie) Flashcards
When was genie discovered?
Genie was discovered in 1970 at the age of 13 years old, after suffering extreme probation for most of her childhood.
What had happened to Genie?
She had been neglected by her parents, spending her life locked in a room tied to a party share by day and tied to a crib night.
What were the problems that Genie had when they found her?
Genie could not talk properly when she was found, it was found that she had been beaten by her father for making a noise.
Genie was found with severe physical development problems: she could not walk properly she had a physical stoop, being unable to straighten her arms or legs.
She was severely undernourished and had stunted growth, she had only been fed baby food and it was discovered that she could not due a swallow solid food
What happened to Genia when she was in the Children’s Hospital? (improvements, attachments)
During her time at the Children’s Hospital, Genie made social, emotional and physical improvements such as bathing herself.
This was because she was removed from her natural home environment.
She also started to make emotional attachments with staff, showing distress when she was separated from them.
What happened when she was fostered by researchers? (improvements, however…)
She was fostered by researchers and given the therapy and rehabilitated by them in her own home.
She showed signs of language improvement, although this did not match up to her chronological age.
In particular her understanding of grammatical structure did not improve beyond that of a two-year-old and her IQ reached a maximum of 70 meaning it could not be concluded that her language was normal.
What happened to Genie after funding was cut? (after funding, consequences of, overtesting)
After funding was stopped she was returned to local authority care where she went through a succession of foster homes.
During this time she regressed emotionally and stop talking; this was due to ill treatment by her foster parents.
She now lives out her life in a residential care home for adults with learning difficulties and there is a court order protecting her privacy, due to the concerns with over-testing.
What was the conclusion from Genie study?
The study showed us that there is a critical period for language development as Genie was never able to fully develop a language ability, further suggesting that the effects of probation cannot be fully reversed.
