Language Development In 285 Idiots and Imbeciles
- Author:
Clara; Harrison Town,, Ph.D.,
Director of the Department of Clinical Psychology, Lincoln State School and Colony, Lincoln, Illinois.
In L’Annee Psychologique for 1908 there is an article by Binet and Simon entitled “Langage et Pensee”. In it the authors have outlined what they call a new psychogenic method, a method which they judge can with profit be applied to the study of most mental phenomena.
The method is not so much an application of the psychogenic method to the study of the feebleminded as a study in psychogenesis by means of the feebleminded. Genetic studies of mental phenomena have heretofore used as subjects moral children. Such studies are more or less hampered by the fact that a normal child evolves so quickly that his mental level is in reality not a level at all, but a constantly ascending plane. The feebleminded, on the contrary, according to these authors, reach planes of mental development corresponding to certain stages of normal development and remain, there. An average child of five years possesses certain mental capabilities plus an actively and constantly exercised power to acquire more. A feebleminded adult with the mental development of a child of five possesses similar mental capabilities without the power of further acquisition. lie has reached a distinct level of development, a static condition, and may be studied at leisure. By studying any mental phenomenon in groups of feebleminded individuals of each mental age from two years to that age period in which the phenomenon in question normally reaches full development, we should be able to gain a knowledge of the gradual evolution of that phenomenon.
In illustration of*the method the authors present a study of the language development of several imbeciles, and reach some interesting conclusions; among them the following: 1. The auditory vocabulary based upon the power to understand spoken words is largely developed before the ability to speak is acquired. 1 Read at the meeting of the American Association for the Study of the Feebleminded at Vineland, New Jersey, June 4, 1912, and published with the proceedings of the Association. 2. The ability to repeat words precedes in development the ability to use them, voluntarily and intelligently. 3. Language development reaches such a high level by the age of seven that any individual limited to the intelligence of that of a child of seven, is not in consequence of such limitation deprived of free and fluent use of language. This of course has a very distinct bearing upon recent theories of aphasia. Following the lines of investigation laid down in this article we have attempted the study of language development in a number of idiots and imbeciles, charges of the Lincoln State School and Colony. Two hundred and eighty-five children form the basis of the study?50 idiots, 90 low grade imbeciles, 45 middle grade imbeciles, and 100 high grade imbeciles; all graded and classified according to the Binet-Simon scale.
Among the idiots five levels of language development were recognized: the understanding of gestures, the imitation of gestures, voluntary gestures, the understanding of words heard, sounds and attempts at articulation.
The idiots were subdivided into three groups: Seventeen low grade, 8 middle grade, and 25 high grade idiots. Of the 17 low grade children there were 2 who understood gestures, none who imitated them, 4 who made occasional use of them, 1 who understood a few words, and none who spoke so much as a single word. Two were able to laugh, 2 to hum, and the others to grunt, scream and cry only.
Of the 8 middle grade children, 2 understood gestures, 1 imitated them, 2 used them voluntarily, 3 understood a few words, 1 spoke a few words; 4 laughed, but the others only cried, screamed and made inarticulate sounds.
Of the 25 high grade idiots, 23 understood gestures, 20 imitated them at least occasionally, 22 used them voluntarily at least occasionally, 14 understood a few words, and 10 pronounced one or more.
Thus we find a gradual development of the faculty of expression through these grades of idiocy. In all three grades there were a few more children who used gestures voluntarily than there were children who imitated gestures. In all cases, however, in which this voluntary power develops before imitation it seems to be limited to movements of prehension or repulsion, it is the direct result of the pressing need and desire for expression. The rudimentary attempts at articulate speech are evident in the highest grade idiots, and the most striking finding of all is that many of these children who can say nothing, or at the most, yes, no, and mama, understand the names of many familiar objects and acts.
With the imbecile we reach the plane of articulate speech, and the problem of examining the language ability assumes a different form. The ability to gesticulate is now taken for granted and the points to be observed are: 1. The size of the auditory vocabulary. 2. The size of the spoken vocabulary. 3. Echolalia. 4. Power to repeat sentences. 5. Voluntary speech?words and sentences. 6. Defects of articulation. Defects of articulation are in turn classified as follows: 1. Stammer, infantile. 2. Stammer, more persistent and more general. 3. Stutter. 4. Vagueness without distinct stammer. 5. An omission or slurring of letters and syllables. 6. An omission of words in sentences.
The vocabularies are designated as consisting of the names of a few objects and acts only, or as general. Of the 90 low grade imbeciles, 11 per cent show the limited auditory vocabulary, 15 per cent the limited spoken vocabulary, while the middle and high grade imbeciles all possess general vocabularies.
As such a summary statement gives no idea of the size and character of the children’s vocabularies, a special study was made of the vocabularies of 25 low grade, 10 middle grade, and 10 high grade imbeciles. As it seems quite impossible to procure complete vocabularies of large groups of children, a comparative study was made on the basis of the power to use voluntarily 320 selected words. These 320 words were suggested to each child by means of pictures and objects. These were shown to the children and they were asked questions concerning them. Of course each child was taken alone and encouraged to talk as much as he would. As nearly all children like pictures, the whole thing became an enjoyable game. A record was kept of each of the 320 words used and also of all extra words used during the course of the experiment. The average per cent of the 320 test words used by the groups grading in mental age from three to six shows a gradual increase as the mental age increases. The three year group shows an average of 23 per cent, with a mean variation of 8.5; the four year group an average of 41 per cent, and a mean variation of 7.3; the five year group an average of 69 per cent, and a mean variation of 7.6, and the six year group an average of 8G per cent, and a mean variation of 2.9.
A similar gradual and regular increase is shown in the total number of words used (this total including the words used which were not among the test words). The average total for the three year group is 112, for the four year group 188, for the five year group 315, and for the six year group 363. The test was not carried on to the seventh year of mental development because the vocabulary at this level is so large that this test on the basis used is of no value.
An interesting point brought out by these vocabulary tests is the comparatively large vocabularies, 50, 75, or 100 words, possessed by the silent children, whom many among their attendants think mute.
The tests were also of inestimable value as a help in the analysis of articulation difficulties. One little boy is recorded as using 216 words, yet his speech without the guide of pictures is absolutely unintelligible. With the pictures one can grasp the faint resemblance to the word attempted, and thus gain a true conception of the child’s distorted perception of the word. The phrase perception of the word is used designedly; probably no one realizes how intimate is the connection between the faulty articulation of a word and its auditory value to the child, and still further between both of these and the ideas they convey. Many children are absolutely incapable of sensing more than one or two sounds in a word. One little boy had learned the word heaven, or for him hev. When I asked him which of two blocks was the heavier he seemed confused. I said, “What does heavy mean ?” lie pointed upward. Several children when asked what they would do if on their way to school they feared they would be late, thought that late meant lake; one thought he would solve the problem by swimming across, another that he would hunt up a boat. These children habitually changed final h to t and late and lahe are identical to them. Another boy when asked to write the word tree made the figure 3; to him th is always t. Still another boy was asked to name a bottle which was held up for inspection. He said “It is medicine.” As a further suggestion for the word bottle he was then asked “What is it in ?” To this he replied, “Budesedine.” The question was given too rapidly for him, and he was making an effort to repeat exactly what he heard, thinking it some new word, the name of the medicine.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. 233 The records sliow tlie occurrence of echolalia in 19 per cent of the 90 low grade imbeciles, all cases but two occurring in the 3 year group; in 2 per cent (one case) of the 45 middle grade imbeciles ; and in 2 per cent of the 100 high grade imbeciles. These findings indicate that echolalia is a phenomenon generally outgrown by the end of the third year. The power to repeat sentences is possessed by 52 per cent (47) of the 90 low grade imbeciles and by all the other children. The ability to use sentences voluntarily appears in 72 per
Low Grade Middle Grade High Grade Total number. 17 25 Understand gestures Imitate gestures Make voluntary gestures. Understand few words… Speak word or two 23 20 22 14 10 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT OF IMBECILES. Low Grade Middle Grade High Grade Total number. 90 45 100 Auditory vocabulary?general. Auditory vocabulary?limited . Spoken vocabulary?general… Spoken vocabulary?limited… Echolalia Repetition of sentences Voluntary sentences Stammer Stutter Other defects of articulation.. 89 per cent 11 85 15 19 52 72 60 3.3 22 100 per cent 100 2 100 100 53 4 5 100 per cent 100 2 100 100 48 3 4
cent (G5) of the 90 low grade imbeciles, and in all the other children. Again it seems that the ability to use voluntary sentences precedes that of repeating sentences, or at least is more general at an earlier age. Many of the children included in the 72 per cent are, however, capable of only very short sentences and badly constructed ones. Of the 90 low grade imbeciles there are only 13 free from
VOCABULARY TEST?IMBECILES. Case Low Grade Age Mental Age Number of Test Words Percent of Test Words Total Number Words Used 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 7 12 10 6 7 6 9 7 6 7 7 7 8 11 9 13 11 17 28 9 26 14 14 9 14 Middle Grade 30 32 40 48 53 60 72 81 81 84 90 101 105 115 115 115 117 121 128 135 139 143 151 172 195 9 10 12 15 16 19 22 25 25 26 28 32 33 36 36 36 37 38 40 42 43 45 47 54 62 34 50 152 76 57 138 113 125 110 151 114 137 153 136 143 226 162 159 148 231 145 161 166 146 293 Mental Age 3 Years. Av. % 23, M. V. 8.5 Av. total 112, M. V. 36 Mental Age 4 Years. Av. % 41, M. V. 7.3 Av. total 188, M. V. 45 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 13 11 7 8 9 10 12 13 11 11 155 202 211 213 216 223 245 249 257 265 48 63 65 66 67 69 76 77 80 83 216 358 291 316 288 304 400 322 280 380 Mental Age 5 Years. Av. % 69.4, M. V. 7.6 Av. total 315.5, M.Y. 39.7 High Grade 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 11 9 12 10 11 14 10 13 12 9 250 266 271 273 276 276 278 284 294 299 78 83 85 85 86 86 87 88 92 93 293 315 352 363 492 296 346 380 375 4201
Mental Age 6 Years. Av. % 86.3, M. V. 2.9 Av. total 363, M. Y. 42.8 defects of articulation; 85 per cent of these children either stammer, stutter, or slur their words or sentences. Sixty-two per cent (28) includes all those whose articulation is defective in the group of middle grade imbeciles, and 55 per cent all those in the group of high grade imbeciles.
If under faulty articulation we included all those departures from the absolute purity demanded by the highest culture, these percentages, of course, would be much higher. Those errors common to entire communities from which our children come do not indicate faulty development of function, but faulty speech models Avhich have been correctly imitated. Therefore such errors are not included in our totals, which represent faulty developvient of the ability to articulate.
Sixty per cent of the 90 low grade imbeciles stammer, 53 per cent of the 45 middle grade imbeciles stammer, and 48 per cent of the 100 high grade imbeciles stammer.
The stutterers number 3.3 per cent (3) of the low grade imbeciles, 4 per cent (2) of the middle grade imbeciles, and 3 per cent of the high grade imbeciles. Stuttering is comparatively unusual among the feebleminded at the Lincoln State School and Colony and seems to have no age correlation.
Those who have defects of articulation other than stammering and stuttering, number 22 per cent in the group of low grade imbeciles, 5 per cent in the group of middle grade imbeciles, and 4 per cent in the group of high grade imbeciles.
In summing up the results of the investigation we find that our records show a distinct age correlation for the successive levels of language development, and just as distinct a correlation for the various speech defects, with the single exception of stuttering. Such results are indicative that this new psychogenic method will in time contribute data of much value to genetic psychology.
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