UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE

FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA Y HUMANIDADES

DEPARTAMENTO DE LINGÜÍSTICA
INGLÉS INSTRUMENTAL II

ARTICLE FOR READING TEST

Due date: 29th October

Hood, S. and K. Brown. “The Importance of the Social Environment” in ​Academic Encounters: Life in Society. Reading,
Study Skills, and Writing.

The role of nature (what we inherit) and of nurture (what we learn) in making us what we are is a
controversial topic. In the seventeenth century, people believed they became what their parents taught them to
be. By the second half of the nineteenth century, a quite different view was popular. Instead of looking to
nurture―what people learn―to explain human behavior, many social scientists looked to nature―what
people inherit from their parents. Opinions on the question have gone back and forth ever since.

Obviously we inherit something of what makes us who we are. But what? People inherit physical traits
such as skin color, but they also seem to inherit temperament―a natural tendency to behave and react in a
certain way. For example, some people are naturally active, nervous, or easily annoyed. Others that are brought
up in a similar environment tend to be the opposite―passive, calm, and rarely upset. The role of heredity in
determining our intelligence and aptitude is less clear, and the debate is far from over.

What is clear is that, although nature may limit what we can achieve, socialization plays a very large
role in determining what we actually achieve. That is, socialization may enhance or restrict whatever potential
ability we inherit from our parents. Case studies of neglected children, and of children who have received
stimulation to perform at a high level, are evidence of the importance of social or environmental learning.

Since the fourteenth century there have been more than fifty recorded cases of feral children.
Supposedly, animals in the wild bring up feral children. One of the most famous is “the wild boy of Aveyron”. In
1797, hunters in the woods of southern France captured this boy. He was about 11 years old and completely
naked. The “wild boy” used his arms and legs to run, could not speak, and liked uncooked food. He could not do
most of the simple things that younger children can usually do. He was obviously deprived of socialization.

There are other similar stories of social deprivation. Anna, for example, was born in 1932 in
Pennsylvania. Her mother was young and she was not married. Anna's grandfather was outraged by the birth
and did not want to have anything to do with the child. The mother tried to give Anna away but she could not
do it, so she hid her in the attic and gave her just enough food to keep her alive. Nobody touched, talked to,
washed, or bathed Anna. When social work officers found her in 1938 at the age of six, Anna could not talk or
walk. She could do nothing but lie quietly on the floor with expressionless eyes and face.

Children who receive little attention in orphanages suffer similar harmful effects. In 1945, researcher
Rene Spitz reported on an orphanage where 18-month-old infants did not have human contact during most of
the day. After a year, they all became physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially impaired. Two years later,
more than a third of the children died. Those who survived could not speak, walk, dress themselves, or use a
spoon.

While the lack of normal socialization can destroy minds, specialized socialization can create geniuses.
A young woman named Edith finished primary school in four years and did not attend high school because she
entered university. She graduated from college at age 15 and obtained her doctorate before she was 18. Was
she born a genius? We do not know. However, as soon as she stopped playing with dolls, her father filled her
days with reading, mathematics, classical music, and intellectual discussions and debates. When she wanted to
play, her father told her to play chess. It is possible that this very special attention to her academic
development contributed significantly to her achievements. Another example is Adragon Eastwood DeMello
who graduated with a degree in mathematics at age 11. When he was a few months old, his father quit his job
as a science writer to educate him.

Many parents of geniuses deliberately give their children very stimulating environments. In his study
of Einstein, Picasso, Gandhi and other world-famous geniuses, Howard Gardner found that they were all born
into families that valued learning and achievement with at least one loving adult who especially encouraged
their ability.