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Anna was an illegitimate child born to a retarded mother. The grandfather, with whom Anna's mother lived, was enraged at the birth and tried, unsuccessfully, to place Anna in foster care. At the age of five-and-one-half months Anna was returned to her mother and thereafter kept on the second floor in an attic-like room so as not to offend the grandfather. Anna was alone nearly all of the time, seldom moved, touched or talked to and rarely bathed. She was fed almost nothing but cow's milk.
Anna was finally found and removed from the home at the age of six years. When discovered, she could not walk, talk, or do anything that showed intelligence. Over the next four years in foster care Anna developed but not rapidly. By the age of ten she had achieved a level of development comparable to that of a two-and-one-half year-old child.
Davis concluded that this type of impoverished environment severely retarded develpment. He recognized that it is impossible, with this type of study, to say definitely that Ann's lack of development was caused by her poor environment. Anna may have been deficient mentally because of hereditary factors.
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