>
>
> > Moreover, consider the case of isolated/solitary children.
> > They often demonstrate social, cognitive and emotional
> > deficits--it's not just that they don't know how to use a
> > spoon or speak a language! Human development seems to
> > require social interaction.
>
>Right. Any keywords? I thought the term for this was
>_marasmus_ but this word appears to be defined as a physical
>or medical concept associated with malnutrition.
we typically refer to the very rare cases of what they call "feral children" to talk about the ways in which language in social interaction shape human development. according to these case studies, even when these children are discovered and taught language and social skills they are generally still unable to use language with any facility. Genie is the typical case, since she was found in the 1930s I think. Far more was written on her than so-called wolf children like "Victor". Genie was tied to a chair and isolated in a room from the age of 20months. Her mother was deaf or blind or both and didn't interact with her. They fed her by shoving a tray in her room--I think. Hazy memory.
kelley