Locked in a Cage

[lu_hawk]

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She scored the highest recorded score ever on tests that measure a person's ability to make sense out of chaos and to see patterns.

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calling bullshit on this. i don't believe the "can't learn a language" assertion either, but the quoted statement is really over-the-top.

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The claim of scoring the highest ever on that test is over the top but it is well documented that a persons ability to learn a language peaks at about 5 or 6 years of age. After that it declines forever. So it seems reasonable that if whatever mental circuits required to learn a language were left completely unused until a person got into their 20's then that person might never be able to learn a language.

[Sephus]

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She scored the highest recorded score ever on tests that measure a person's ability to make sense out of chaos and to see patterns.

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calling bullshit on this. i don't believe the "can't learn a language" assertion either, but the quoted statement is really over-the-top.

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The claim of scoring the highest ever on that test is over the top but it is well documented that a persons ability to learn a language peaks at about 5 or 6 years of age. After that it declines forever. So it seems reasonable that if whatever mental circuits required to learn a language were left completely unused until a person got into their 20's then that person might never be able to learn a language.

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lol, really???

[offTopic]

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Soooo, what do you think would happen if doctors were to take a child right after it was born and put it in a dark room for 21 years. They would obviously feed the child until it was old enough to eat food that was placed in front of it.


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Veal Substitute

[junkmail3]

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what do you think would happen when they let it out at 21 years of age?

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He would probably go on a bar tour with his feeder buddies.

[jstnrgrs]

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She scored the highest recorded score ever on tests that measure a person's ability to make sense out of chaos and to see patterns.

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calling bullshit on this. i don't believe the "can't learn a language" assertion either, but the quoted statement is really over-the-top.

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The claim of scoring the highest ever on that test is over the top but it is well documented that a persons ability to learn a language peaks at about 5 or 6 years of age. After that it declines forever. So it seems reasonable that if whatever mental circuits required to learn a language were left completely unused until a person got into their 20's then that person might never be able to learn a language.

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I'm no expert, but it seems to me that if the part of the brian that is normally used for language is deprived of language, then that part of the brain might end up being used for something else. So, it is not that unreasonable to think that she might have had exceptional abilities in other areas.

[jstnrgrs]

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How's www.FeralChildren.com for ya?

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So it turns out that the test that the OP sugested has actually been done before (more or less)
link

The thing I found most interesting was:

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Over the next couple of years, some scientists concluded that Genie was not mentally retarded, even though she was still unable to master language. She was brilliant at nonverbal communication. Sometimes she would be so frustrated at not being able to say what she wanted that she would grab a pencil and paper and in a few strokes, illustrate fairly complex ideas and even feelings. She scored the highest recorded score ever on tests that measure a person's ability to make sense out of chaos and to see patterns. Her abilities to understand and to think logically were also strong. She had a perfect score on an adult-level test that measured spatial abilities. One test required that she use a set of colored sticks to recreate a complicated structure from memory. She was not only able to build the structure perfectly, she built it with sticks of the exact same color as the first structure! Despite all this, Genie remained unable to master the basics of language.


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Thanks for the links!

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any test/experiments like this today would be impossible in most countries - ruled unethical - thus why they have done it alot with baby monkeys!

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I hope that you realize that this wasn't designed as a scientific experiment. It was a case of horrible abuse that, as a side effect, led to some scientific research.