Genie Discovered: Feral Child Raises Science Questions

A social worker in Temple City, California, noticed a small, hunched figure shuffling behind a nearly blind woman who had come to apply for disability benefits on November 4, 1970. The figure turned out to be a 13-year-old girl who weighed 59 pounds, could not chew solid food, and had almost no language. Genie, the pseudonym later assigned by researchers, had spent most of her life confined to a single room, strapped to a potty chair by day and caged in a crib at night, by a father who believed she was mentally disabled. Clark Wiley had isolated the family in their Arcadia home after his mother's death in a hit-and-run accident left him deeply paranoid. He beat Genie if she made any sound, barked and growled at her like a dog, and forbade family members from speaking to her. Her brother, forced to communicate in canine growls, smuggled her occasional food. The day her mother finally escaped with Genie to seek help, Clark Wiley shot himself. Genie's case electrified the scientific community because it presented a natural experiment in the "critical period" hypothesis of language acquisition. Linguist Noam Chomsky and others had theorized that humans must be exposed to language before puberty to develop normal linguistic ability. Genie became the subject of intensive research at UCLA's Children's Hospital, studied by linguist Susan Curtiss, psychologist David Rigler, and a team of specialists. Genie learned individual words and short phrases but never acquired normal grammar, providing evidence that supported the critical period theory. The research generated bitter disputes among the scientists, accusations that Genie's therapeutic needs were subordinated to academic ambition, and a lawsuit by her mother. After funding ended, Genie passed through foster homes where she was abused and regressed. She reportedly lives in an adult care facility in Southern California, her case a haunting illustration of what deprivation destroys in a developing mind.