Curtiss: Genie
Exam hint: Read the question wording carefully, although a lot of Genie’s study is interesting, the focus may be about the research of Curtiss and language development
Background info:
· Genie was discovered at the age of 13.
· She had been isolated from her mother and father by being locked in a room where she was tied to a ‘potty chair’ throughout the day
· The room had no toys – only cotton reels to play with (rain macs on special occasions)
· Genie was fed baby food.
· Genie at her 5 month old check had been said to be ‘alert’, indicating she was a normal child.
· At 14 months she was ill, and her family were told she may have signs of retardation, but could not assess this accurately. This is what her father apparently used as the excuse for locking her in the room
· Her father did not believe Genie would live beyond 12 and promised her mother if Genie did survive she could seek help. He went back on this promise and Genie’s mother escaped with Genie – the police were called and Genie’s parents were charged with abuse. Her father killed himself the day the trial began.
Aim: To see if the effects of privation could be overcome; to see whether a child outside the critical period could learn language
Procedure: Case study – observations, doctors reports, interviews with Genie’s mother, psychological and language tests
Case Description: Genie began to become more social – on some activities she could achieve the same as a 8-9 year old, but on others she only reached the age of 2. Language began to develop and she asked people for the names of things. She had a delayed reaction – answering questions 10 mins after she had been asked. In one observation another child was holding two balloons, and asked how many they had – they replied three. On hearing this, Genie gave the child another balloon, suggesting she had some understanding of numbers.
Case Analysis: Genie appeared to learn language outside of the critical period however her language use was not normal and did not catch up.
Conclusion: Effects of privation may be considered partially reversible – she developed some social skills, attached to key figures and developed some language.
OR Effects of privation are not reversible? Genie did not develop normal language and use normal social skills
What happened afterwards:
· Due to a lack of funding, Genie went to stay in a residential home
· The study was criticised, as the psychologists who were caring for Genie were excessively testing Genie and not only focusing on helping her develop.
· They criticise this, as they said they took her into their own homes and helped her to develop social skills and bond with others
Evaluation
Unique case of privation – difficult to compare to other children and cases e.g. Koluchova twins found privation could be overcome
Case study evidence; it is questionable what Genie’s development was like before being locked in the room – we do not know if Genie would have been able to develop ‘normally’ or if she did have developmental abnormalities; other studies (see later) have different outcomes
However the evidence collected was detailed and thorough; data was both qualitative and quantivative; several psychologists worked with Genie to gather this information. This makes the data valid.
Ethics – Genie was given a pseudonym to maintain confidentiality and keep her privacy. However Genie was cared for by psychologists yet was the subject of their study and subjected to testing. This could be considered as taking advantage of her.
Exam hint: Read the question wording carefully, although a lot of Genie’s study is interesting, the focus may be about the research of Curtiss and language development
Background info:
· Genie was discovered at the age of 13.
· She had been isolated from her mother and father by being locked in a room where she was tied to a ‘potty chair’ throughout the day
· The room had no toys – only cotton reels to play with (rain macs on special occasions)
· Genie was fed baby food.
· Genie at her 5 month old check had been said to be ‘alert’, indicating she was a normal child.
· At 14 months she was ill, and her family were told she may have signs of retardation, but could not assess this accurately. This is what her father apparently used as the excuse for locking her in the room
· Her father did not believe Genie would live beyond 12 and promised her mother if Genie did survive she could seek help. He went back on this promise and Genie’s mother escaped with Genie – the police were called and Genie’s parents were charged with abuse. Her father killed himself the day the trial began.
Aim: To see if the effects of privation could be overcome; to see whether a child outside the critical period could learn language
Procedure: Case study – observations, doctors reports, interviews with Genie’s mother, psychological and language tests
Case Description: Genie began to become more social – on some activities she could achieve the same as a 8-9 year old, but on others she only reached the age of 2. Language began to develop and she asked people for the names of things. She had a delayed reaction – answering questions 10 mins after she had been asked. In one observation another child was holding two balloons, and asked how many they had – they replied three. On hearing this, Genie gave the child another balloon, suggesting she had some understanding of numbers.
Case Analysis: Genie appeared to learn language outside of the critical period however her language use was not normal and did not catch up.
Conclusion: Effects of privation may be considered partially reversible – she developed some social skills, attached to key figures and developed some language.
OR Effects of privation are not reversible? Genie did not develop normal language and use normal social skills
What happened afterwards:
· Due to a lack of funding, Genie went to stay in a residential home
· The study was criticised, as the psychologists who were caring for Genie were excessively testing Genie and not only focusing on helping her develop.
· They criticise this, as they said they took her into their own homes and helped her to develop social skills and bond with others
Evaluation
Unique case of privation – difficult to compare to other children and cases e.g. Koluchova twins found privation could be overcome
Case study evidence; it is questionable what Genie’s development was like before being locked in the room – we do not know if Genie would have been able to develop ‘normally’ or if she did have developmental abnormalities; other studies (see later) have different outcomes
However the evidence collected was detailed and thorough; data was both qualitative and quantivative; several psychologists worked with Genie to gather this information. This makes the data valid.
Ethics – Genie was given a pseudonym to maintain confidentiality and keep her privacy. However Genie was cared for by psychologists yet was the subject of their study and subjected to testing. This could be considered as taking advantage of her.