Blog Assignment 6

An iconic image is an image that is easily recognized by a majority, and represents a time period or cultural event, taking on a symbolic meaning. In the field of psychology, one example of an iconic image might be this photograph of Genie, a feral child. This image comes from a selection of video footage that was used to study Genie. The photograph demonstrates several tell-tale characteristic of a feral child, including her animal-like positioning and downward gaze.

Genie was discovered at the age of thirteen, strapped to a chair where she had spent most of her life in complete isolation from human comtact, except for when her father would bring her a plate of food. When she was found, she was nearly mute, possessing a vocabulary of approximately twenty words. Over time she developed a broader use of language, including sign language, but never fully developed normal language skills. Genie has become a metonym, or a word that is used to represent something other than its actual meaning, in psychology for the theory that there is an age threshold for the acquisition of language. After her rescue, Genie began to physically and mentally develop very rapidly. Although she was never able to string word together in a meaningful way, she would express frustration when she felt that she was not conveying her meaning accurately. Instead of language, she would often illustrate her thoughts or feelings by drawing them, usually demonstrating fairly complex ideas and emotions. Further study led to the discovery that the left side of Genie’s brain was shockingly inactive, leading to the belief that there is a critical time period for the development of the left brain (which governs language acquisition and use) that generally occurs before the age of 12, which is when Genie was rescued. Genie’s case is a well known trope for a critical period of language acquisition not only in the field of psychology, but also to linguists and neurologists.