Curtis’s Study of
Genie
Aim
To help Genie develop her language
and ability to learn as well as allowing researchers to study someone who have
suffered extreme privation.
What happened before
the discovery?
·
She
was locked in a small room
·
She
was ignored and often beaten by her father
·
She
was fed baby food by her brother
·
She
was tied to a potty chair/restricted to a cot- Her physical movements were
restricted
·
Genie
had very few toys, played with a cotton spool
What happened after
the discovery?
·
Genie
was found to have a physical disability with a stoop at 13 years old, then she
was admitted to the children’s hospital
·
Researchers
would take carry of genie to help her as well as studying her as a patient at
the children’s hospital
·
Different
researchers fosters Genie at different times, developing attachments with her
·
Genie’s
mother then became her legal guardian again, ending the research done on her.
·
The
mother eventually struggled to take care of Genie and the funding dried up to
take care of her- Genie ended up being put back into the care system.
·
She
then got abused by foster parents and relapsed after this- losing all of her
learning development
Test results
·
Genie’s
language developed hugely, she improved her vocabulary however she couldn’t
form her words into full grammatical sentences
·
EEG-
Genie was found to have irregular sleep spindles (e.g. irregular sleeping
patterns) and may have developmental issues
Conclusion
Privation can’t full be overcome.
Evaluation
ü The video footage can be checked for
reliability
ü Triangulation
ü Proved that privation can’t be truly
overcome
ü Supported that there is a critical
period
ü Helps people to understand how to
help private children- preventing the increase
ü Good depth of information- both
qualitative and Quantitative using Multiple research methods
ü Longitudinal- in depth, rich in
validity
ü Some ethics like the researchers
competence – they did care for Genie’s well being
ü Did limit the amount of tests Genie
was given
ü Ethics- Pseudonym of Genie,
confidentiality was protected
ü Researchers looked after Genies wealth
fare
û Not generalizable because it is a
unique situation and Case study
û Possible learning difficulties from
birth
û Longitudinal
û Bias- subjectivity affects the
validity of the study
û EEG results aren’t valid if she’s an
extraneous variable
û Ethics- Psychological hard- constant
over testing
û Ethics- Physical harm- abuse from
father and foster carer
û Right to withdrawal
û Some researchers may have used the
study to further their career- they didn’t care about genie