[Aliantha]

Well there are quite a number of examples where kids have had nurturing through means other than normal human interactions and the results have surprised sociologists, anthropologists and other professionals in the field.

I'm thinking specifically of an boy in France discovered to have lived in the wild with wolves, and a girl in the US (I think) who was the victim of gross emotional abuse and basically had no human interaction her whole life until she was found at the age of 11 or so.

Both are amazing case studies, but the conclusions drawn can never be proven because people would never agree to allow children to be treated that way on purpose by scientists.