SOC 2000 - Wild Child - The Case of Genie PDF

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Download SOC 2000 - Wild Child - The Case of Genie PDF

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The Case of Genie 1. In your opinion, which determines human behavior most? Nature or nurture? Why? (basic opinion, no need to research) nature can make up for past, seems retarded b/c of no nurture, think we are born with principles of language that need to be activated by puberty,

2. Do you believe Genie was “human”? Why or why not? What makes us “human”? Hint: Use the sociological imagination to answer this question. (what makes us human? it is culture, routine) what makes us human? is it apperance, walking upright, language fragile, beautiful, personal quality that elicits rescuing, the way she explored tactically, learned words- about 100, if she could form relationships and learn she can get better, mentally and physically grow with assistance Genie, not her real name just a nickname, is a creature that isn't human and has a childhood elsewhere but was merged into human society later on

I looked up the definition- a spirit, often appearing in human form, that when summoned by a person carries out the wishes of the summoner. any spirit; demon.

3. In your opinion, how important is human touch in terms of positive human development? (is it just better for science or unethical) Genie received no touching or talking as a result she didn't develop as a human became retarded b/c of years in the wild and hard to understand father thought she was retarded and forced her in a closet, mother was blind and forced into this, father shot himself when he was going to be arrested 4. Do you think science crossed an ethical line when “treating” Genie? Do you believe, in cases like Genie, the emphasis should be place on the well-being of the person or the scientific possibilities of the subject (and application for future studies)?

most extreme case of social isolation (this is the most severe punishment, has huge effects) can't do these kind of experiments, putting critical hypothesis to work, looked at brain waves that measured electrical activity and found sleep spindles which show there is brain damage either from the abuse or retarded from birth Psychologist, James Kent visited daily to resemble father figure couldn't understand how she saw the world, she might learn to think and science would learn could a teenager learn to talk with inborn principles how should she be studied, everyone disagreed, couldn't create a forbidden experiment, needed to be adopted to form relationships learned to read, emotions, colors, shapes, still learned language with no limit, responded to deaf teaching methods, rose to the challenge of learning Genie didn't seem to put words together for grammar just how it made sense to her, maybe b/c she missed the critical period Gene Bulter concocked story about German Measles and Genie needed isolation b/c she thought there was too much experimentation and she wanted to be famous for her findings like Etre, at first there was visitors, then thought that frequent visits were too much so she kicked out everyone, she was denied to be a foster parent and went back to the hospital David Regle and his wife along with children were her foster family for four years, he had to play multiple roles Regle didn't have clear research, didn't know if she was brain damaged from birth or abuse, functional retarded, not mentally because of testing which showed an increase every year of 1 year since she was rescue, National Institute of Mental Health stopped funding, completed experiment in 1975, Regler's ended foster care, didn't plan on keeping her forever just wanted to help rehabilitate Returned home to mother b/c she had been freed but found it difficult to deal with past childhood and too hard for mother to handle, series of placements where she received punishment, she was punished for vomiting so she keep her mouth closed and was silent lawsuit from the mother which said they exploited patient with excessive, outrageous

testing they put testing as a priority over child, measured progress repeatedly but for no purpose needed to fulfill grand, mostly fun for her, didn't treat her too much or exploit her too much she now lives in an adult foster home 5. The case of Genie demonstrates the notion of “taken for granted culture” (culture existing without us thinking about its meanings). Describe at least three situations presented in the film that demonstrate this idea. (3 things we take for granted and don't second guess, but Genie did) Genie moved into Gene Bulter can hoarder containers of liquid in her room when shaking hands, she just touched his finger and walked away had bath water freezing cold, foster mother explained temperature and coldness but she didn't understand or care and just stayed in it couldn't believe helium in a balloon made it float and laughed because of it went to woolworths and saw spools of thread and wanted a word for everyone of them never learned to talk, infant noises, still wearing diapers, bunny walk, used gestures to communicate eventually was taught sign language, spit/sniffed/clawed, quiet b/c she was beaten when she made noise, explored tactile like she was blind, tugged/tore when upset was eventually taught to throw a fit and use words/gestures to talk about it, awake Genie to the physical world, she learned to talk about things that she couldn't before, very tactile, just looked into your eyes, pointed at the window and persisted until she got a word, needed a single dependent relationship in the mornings/evenings/special events became psychologist, every field trip was a new adventure, ocean, kites, boy on the street gave her a firetruck with no prompting

Compare to Victor 1800s he came out of the forest was human in form but animal in behavior, naked, mute, ate food an animal would eat, scars on the body, filthy, like a savage, long hair, yellow teeth, bit he was brought to a deaf school where he could learn to be civilized since he was a wild child, etre a doctor taught him and his techniques became famous he was indifferent to the cold, not sensitive to the temperature, he liked to play naked and the snow and was bothered by it, showing the sensitivity to temperature is based on

the environment his progress slowed and he never learned to talk etre stopped the experiment and took him home where they lived a sad, grey existence a movie, The Wild Child, opened a week after Genie was found everyone was stunned, History was repeating itself...