Re: Feral Children
Bill Dickens wrote: > I suppose cowboy extraordinaire Pecos Bill who was raised > by coyotes, tamed a tornado and rescued the drought-stricken > agricultural economy of Texas is more urban legend than fact. (LOL) Rural, surely. -- Anton Sherwood, http://www.ogre.nu/
RE: Feral Children
I suppose cowboy extraordinaire Pecos Bill who was raised by coyotes, tamed a tornado and rescued the drought-stricken agricultural economy of Texas is more urban legend than fact. (LOL) Bill Dickens (FL) -Original Message- From: fabio guillermo rojas [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 7:34 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Feral Children Diego! Diego! The definitive source on outlandish, but possibly true facts is the weekly "Straight Dope Column" in the Chicago Reader, written by Cecil Adams. To sum up Cecil's column, yes, there a few authenticated cases of feral children, but most researchers doubt that any of these were raised by animals, a common misconception. Feral children remain stunted most of their lives, unable to acquire a vocabulary of more than fifty words. See the link below. Fabio Check out: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_046.html On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Maybe the topic of feral children is a bit of target from the armchair > list, but I am curious to see if someone could share their knowedge > about this. Do the stories about feral children -"lost or abandoned > children raised in extreme social isolation, either surviving in the > wild through their own efforts or 'adopted' by animals"- have any > truth behind them or are they just "old wives tales"? I guess the > question should be refined: how much truth is there behind > particularly famous stories of feral children (Amala & Kamala, Victor > the wild boy of Aveyron, Wild Peter, Kaspar Hauser, John Ssabunnya, > the Hessian wolf-boy, etc.)? Most importantly, what are the > conclusions and findings -assuming there is a general consensus- about > them? What are the consequences of extreme social isolation in > children regarding their abilities to develope complex forms of > reasoning and abstract thinking? Is there a critical period for > language acquisition? > > Diego > > >
Re: Feral Children
Good point, Anton. Thanks! -jsh __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com
Re: Feral Children
john hull wrote: > Also, language acquisition is hardwired, sort of like > the way chicks imprint their mothers. If you miss > that window then you're going to have real trouble. > That's why kids learn new languages so easily. This > window closes around puberty, if I recall correctly. Yes and no. Second languages appear to be easier before puberty (tell me about it!), but the window for first language acquisition closes much earlier. Quoth the Straight Dope, as cited by Fabio: "...Kamala, who was about 8, survived [9 more years]. It was years before she learned to walk or speak and her vocabulary never exceeded some 50 words." -- Anton Sherwood, http://www.ogre.nu/
Re: Feral Children
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: "Is there a critical period for language acquisition?" Yup. Very early on all infants make all the sounds of all human languages (I think they might be called phonemes). Anyway, they get culled by imitating the parents. Hence, it's so difficult for Japanese to say "L", for example. Also, language acquisition is hardwired, sort of like the way chicks imprint their mothers. If you miss that window then you're going to have real trouble. That's why kids learn new languages so easily. This window closes around puberty, if I recall correctly. "What are the consequences of extreme social isolation in children regarding their abilities to develope complex forms of reasoning and abstract thinking?" They've imposed extreme social isolation on apes and is devastating for the ape. But here's another study that shows the importance of stimulation. I can't recall the cite, but here goes: in a mental hospital a group of retarded infants was randomly split into two groups. One was treated as usual, whereas the experimental group played one-on-one with retarded teenage girls from the same hospital for a few hours a day. After two years, the difference in IQs were something like 30 points higher for the experimental group. In adulthood the difference was just as pronounced. The control group was pretty much all institutionalized, while a few lived on their own, etc. The experimental group pretty much all lived on their own, most had at least some college (I think) and one or two even had some graaduate school. "So play with your kid" is a big moral there I suppose. Best regards, jsh __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com
Re: Feral Children
Diego! Diego! The definitive source on outlandish, but possibly true facts is the weekly "Straight Dope Column" in the Chicago Reader, written by Cecil Adams. To sum up Cecil's column, yes, there a few authenticated cases of feral children, but most researchers doubt that any of these were raised by animals, a common misconception. Feral children remain stunted most of their lives, unable to acquire a vocabulary of more than fifty words. See the link below. Fabio Check out: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_046.html On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Maybe the topic of feral children is a bit of target from the armchair > list, but I am curious to see if someone could share their knowedge > about this. Do the stories about feral children -"lost or abandoned > children raised in extreme social isolation, either surviving in the > wild through their own efforts or 'adopted' by animals"- have any > truth behind them or are they just "old wives tales"? I guess the > question should be refined: how much truth is there behind > particularly famous stories of feral children (Amala & Kamala, Victor > the wild boy of Aveyron, Wild Peter, Kaspar Hauser, John Ssabunnya, > the Hessian wolf-boy, etc.)? Most importantly, what are the > conclusions and findings -assuming there is a general consensus- about > them? What are the consequences of extreme social isolation in > children regarding their abilities to develope complex forms of > reasoning and abstract thinking? Is there a critical period for > language acquisition? > > Diego > > >
Feral Children
Maybe the topic of feral children is a bit of target from the armchair list, but I am curious to see if someone could share their knowedge about this. Do the stories about feral children -"lost or abandoned children raised in extreme social isolation, either surviving in the wild through their own efforts or 'adopted' by animals"- have any truth behind them or are they just "old wives tales"? I guess the question should be refined: how much truth is there behind particularly famous stories of feral children (Amala & Kamala, Victor the wild boy of Aveyron, Wild Peter, Kaspar Hauser, John Ssabunnya, the Hessian wolf-boy, etc.)? Most importantly, what are the conclusions and findings -assuming there is a general consensus- about them? What are the consequences of extreme social isolation in children regarding their abilities to develope complex forms of reasoning and abstract thinking? Is there a critical period for language acquisition? Diego
