Genie Study Qs #1 Curtiss
Genie: A Psycholinguistic Study of a Modern-Day "Wild Child" (1977) is Susan Curtiss's PhD Dissertation (Linguistics, UCLA). It was based on a variety of data sources including her observations and work with Genie which began in June 1971.
In your reading of Curtiss and Rymer, please consider/explore: what were the similarities and differences between how Victor and Genie were treated; what behavioral characteristics did they share, and what differentiated them? What were some of the similarities and differences in the scientific and philosophical questions these children raised at the time of their encounters with the social world.
Chap 1 offers the background to Genie that Curtiss was able to obtain. What are the most relevant facts?
Chap 2: What are Genie's positive and negative behaviors?
What are Curtiss's research questions?
What were Genie's language skills? - distinguish between what she could say (production) and what she could understand (comprehension).
What about nonverbal behaviors, gestures?
Chap 3. What were Genie's main achievements from Jan - June 1971? What is Curtiss's affective stance toward Genie?
Chap 4. Having met and observed Genie, what does Curtiss describe as Genie's positive and negative behaviors?
What was Curtiss's research plan?
What does Curtiss report as the significant indicators of Genie's linguistic and cultural knowledge?
Chap 5 details Curtiss's observations, what behaviors does she discuss?
What did the researchers feel Genie needed to be able to say and how did they teach her?
Curtis interprets Genie's short utterances to have specific meanings, Are there any places where Curtiss interprets Genie's language and you can propose an alternative meaning? Comment on Genie's gestures as part of her communication skills?
What activities did Curtiss carry out with Genie? How successful were the literacy exercises?
What are Genie's main affective and social developments?
Chap 6 Note the different types of data that Curtiss had available.
Oh boy oh boy! LOL fun homework.
