Genie the Wild Child

GENIE THE WILD CHILD After viewing the video about Genie, answer the following questions in paragraph form using full and complete sentences. Be specific and cite evidence for your explanations.

1. Describe the early environment that Genie was raised in. Make sure you cite at least five descriptions of her early environment.

2. Explain the "Nature vs. Nurture" debate and then apply the debate to the case of Genie.

3. Explain the early debate in the late 1700s between the English philospher John Locke and the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. Specifically, what did each believe about the attributes children are born with.

4. Explain exactly why the case of Victor, the wild child of Aveyron, France, called the "forbidden experiment?" Do you think that scientists would ever delibertely conduct such an experiment?

5. Explain the concept of the "critical period" insofar as it relates to the acquisition (learning) of language? When is this critical period?

6. In the 1960s there was a hot debate in America about the acquisition of language. Explain the different positions held by the behaviorist B.F. Skinner and the linguist Noam Chomsky. What did each argue? Who is right?

7. Modern psychologists were not able to save Genie. And Jean Marc Itard was not able to save Victor. Why not? Explain your reason.

8. While there aren't many feral children around today, there are certainly many case of child neglect by parents who are absent or fathers who abandon their children. Explain how you think such abandonment and neglect affects the growth and development of children. Cite a least three results.

9. Using the internet, find some research on the effect of boys growing up "fatherless." Overall, what effect does this have, if any, and why is it seen as such a problem?