How Does Under-Stimulation (Infancy to 7 years old) Affect Intellectual Development?

Question

Let's say that a mother leaves her baby in a playpen all day long with no stimulation or attention, and that this has been going on daily until the child was 2 years old. (And has only breast-fed for a week). Assuming that the baby had all his basic needs fulfilled (food, blankets, adequate conditions), but was NEVER socialized, and left in a playpen with a rattle and maybe a stuffed animal. And once the child was 3, was left at a nursery school all day, where they did not provide much stimulation/learning opportunities for the child. How would the child be affected socially & mentally? Other than the obvious effect of boredom and loneliness.

Answer 1

It sort of sounds like the Romanian orphans and the studies done on them (only they didn't necessarily even have all of their basic needs met regularly). They were left in cribs all day, were left to cry-it-out, were only touched when changed or bathed... otherwise neglected. They eventually stoppped crying all-together because they realized that their cries were pointless. They grew hopeless. They learned that they couldn't rely on people. They didn't develop the ability to trust. When they grew up they had issues with a lack of conscience, and an inability to form close and lasting relationships. Crime rates in Romania soared. Etc. Etc. Humans NEED touch. It helps us to grow. It helps our immune systems. Etc. I imagine it would affect us intellectually as well. Compare a baby who is held and read too often and a baby who is ignored. Which do you think will be smarter?

Answer 2

There was a little girl in Los Angelos in the 70s that was locked in a closet, tied to a cage, from infancy to about 13 years old. Her parents put food and water in there every day, but she was never touched or spoken to.

Even when she was rescued, her abilities to learn language and other skills were permanently damaged. She seemed to learn incredibly quickly at first, but that growth plateaued, and she never progressed past a certain level (about 4 years old or so). Because of her case, and others like her, scientists have reasoned that an under-stimulated child's brain actually shrinks and loses the ability to form new connections. Because this child was so severely neglected, her brain was physically incapable of storing new information. As far as I know, this woman (if she is still living) still lives in a group home, and has to have help with every day activities.

Now, the situation that you described wouldn't be quite as drastic as all that, but it could still drastically affect the child's potential. I wouldn't expect the child to have many social skills at all, and his IQ would probably be much lower than it would have been had he been nurtured and loved. He may even be mentally retarded because of the neglect.

If this is a real situation, you should really call child services on the parents, and possibly the childcare center. Any child treated like that is being neglected, and deserves better.

EDIT:

I just saw what the person above me wrote, and that's exactly what I was talking about. Genie was the girl's name.

Answer 3

It very much affects intellectual development, as well as physical development. The more a child's brain is stimulated and the more new things a child is exposed to, the better the development for that child. Not to mention the warmth and caring and love, I believe that having the sense that you are loved and being held and talked to allows children to be more secure, and feeling secure can only do good things as far as intelligence. Socially and mentally, the child would be awkward, shy, unable to interact appropriately, scared of new situations. I hope this is a hypothetical situation and you don't know someone who is doing this to their baby. Although I do know this happens, especially in over crowded orphanages. One time I read an article by a woman who adopted a baby from China. The little girl wouldn't even respond to voices or noises, they thought she was deaf, but she wasn't. She had had no stimulation and had grown accustomed to not having anything to respond too. If you do know of somebody who is doing this to their baby, step in and do something, even play with, talk to and read to the baby yourself if you can.

Answer 4

http://www.feralchildren.com

It's about children who who abandoned or neglected to such a degree that they are scarred for life. There's a link there for "Genie", the girl who was strapped to a pottychair for 12 hours a day in a dark room with absolutely no stimulation until she was twelve. It goes into the psychological and developmental issues she had as a result and the things she can never learn because the window of opputunity has passed.

There are a lot on the site. Very sad.

Answer 5

I am not sure, but I think from Psych 100 (this was years ago, so like I said, I'm not sure) the child may grow up to desperately seek attention. They may show irrational behavior and not understand feelings and emotion. Sometimes they may have violent outbursts, or not understand how to regulate and modify their behaviors to meet situations. Hope this helped....

Answer 6

Often children who don't receive enough attention learn to misbehave in order to get attention. The other answers cover more severe neglect.