On 29 May 2009 at 11:33, Gary Gillund wrote: > The following link may be of interest to the student interested in feral > children: > > http://www.feralchildren.com/en/index.php >
Of interest, certainly. But judging from the credulous, entirely uncritical account of the fantastic tale of Amala and Kamala at that website, I would accompany that recommendation with a strong warning that any claims made there be accepted with extreme caution. For Amala and Kamala, I'd suggest that the student also check out the more balanced treatment of the topic available at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amala_and_Kamala ). He/she might follow this up with a visit to the article by Ogburn and Bose I previously mentioned ( "On the trail of the wolf-children", Genetic Psychology Monographs, 1959 Aug; 60:117-93). Ogburn and Bose went to India, and tried mightily to find independent evidence in support of the remarkable claims made for A & K. They found none. They also point out, among other things, how exceptionally common claims of wolf- children were at that time in India. From there, the student might move on to later critical sources. The student might also check out what Konrad Lorenz said many years ago about the Reverend Singh, the "rescuer" of Amala and Kamala, namely, "Once a liar, always a liar". Of course, despite his Nobel Prize, Lorenz is hardly a trustworthy source himself, and besides, it's no more than name-calling. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
