Genie, a 14-year-old child, was abused all her life and never exposed to language. As a result, she was never able to develop normal language skills. Isabelle, a 6-year-old child, was given only minimal attention and never exposed to language, yet was able to learn normal language skills within a year. In what aspect of their lives did these two children differ that so affected the eventual outcome of their language development?

Question

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The critical period hypothesis in language development suggests that there is a specific time period during which a child's brain is particularly receptive to language input. After this period, language acquisition becomes much more difficult. Genie was past puberty when she was first exposed to language, which means that she had already missed the critical period for language development, whereas Isabelle was prepubescent and still within the critical period. This is likely why Isabelle was able to learn normal language skills within a year, while Genie struggled to develop language even with intensive therapy.

Genie, a 14-Year-Old Child, Was Abused All Her Life and Never