Miss Inconsistency
A Study of an Atypical Child Who Is in No Sense Feebleminded.
- Author:
Alice M. Jones, A.M.,
University of Pennsylvania.
“Miss Inconsistency,” whom we shall call Sally, appeared at the Psychological Clinic one afternoon in spring with a worried, over-anxious mother, a suave, punctilious and determined father, and an excited and very conscientious teacher. Each and every one of this formidable escort had innumerable complaints to make against the nine-year-old unfortunate whom they had in tow. To all of them, however, Sally’s attitude was one of sublime indifference. The teacher could not make enough damning statements. Sally was in her third grade in a private school, but she was utterly unable to do the work. Her concentration, reported the teacher, is nil; in school she pays no attention whatever to ordinary class lessons, but sits and dreams. Her arithmetic is hopeless, her composition and dictation work gibberish. There was no doubt, from the teacher’s point of view, that the best thing to do with Sally was either to demote her to Grade II, or to transfer her to a special class. The parents admitted that all this might be quite true, and had charges to bring on their own account, but they thought the child had a great deal of ability, and felt that neither of these procedures would really solve her problem. They both insisted staunchly that the child had a great deal of intelligence, that she seemed to them in no sense a hopeless case, in spite of the overwhelming evidence brought by the school, and indeed by their own observation. Although there was no doubt whatever about either the sincerity or the superior intellectual status of these parents, still every clinical examiner knows the usual attitude of the parent, and parents’ statements carry little weight unless borne out by the results of the examination. Sally herself did not look like a child who would be responsible for all this excitement. She was not extraordinarily pretty, but light hair and a pink and white skin gave her a wholesome appearance. Her large gray-green eyes were unfortunately masked by glasses, and the report was that she had very defective vision. A broken tooth and a rather prognathous jaw line spoiled Sally’s pretensions to beauty, but she was in no sense sub-normal in appearance. There was an “aura” of self-sufficiency about the child which, coupled as it was with a lack of confidence, was baffling.
In her face one could also sense stubbornness and a slight tendency to stubbornness.
To the apparent consternation of the teacher, and to the obvious delight of the mother (one could feel electricity in the air), Sally acquitted herself wonderfully well in the clinical examination. On the Terman revision of the Binet test Sally’s I. Q. was exactly 100. Analytic notes on the performance tests mention as assets in analytic discrimination, coordination, imageability, distribution of attention, exploration and alertness. This last must have been the final blow to the poor teacher, to whom Sally’s constant inattention had proved maddening. Other notes on the tests, however, show that Sally was inclined to be a little below the norms for her age in time. This slowness of response was especially noted when a verbal rather than a motor response was required.
The formal diagnosis which appears on the case record is interesting and I think helpful, and I shall quote it here. “From the point of view of competency, she is apparently able to do academic work of the kind which is expected of children of her age. Her failure to do this is apparently the result of slowness and inefficiency on her part.” Among the recommendations were a thorough physical examination to determine whether or not any autointoxication was present, and a tutor, whose aim it should be to increase the child’s efficiency to the point where she should be able to enter fourth grade. It was in the latter capacity that I was able to make my more intensive study of Sally.
There is no question that the most striking thing about Sally’s performance level was its inconsistency. For the first two or three days a more model pupil never breathed. Progress was phenomenal. At such a rate our task would have been completed in less than a month. But alas for the futility of such hopes! About the fourth day my illusions vanished, for a state of either confusion or density, or stubbornness (at the time I was at a loss to determine which), set in, and the day’s work was practically a dead loss.
The mother was not in the least surprised at this report, and I was led to infer that such “cloudy periods,” as they aptly expressed it, were frequently encountered in dealing with Sally. During these periods it was practically impossible to control her; she was irritable, “whiny,” stubborn as forty mules, dull, nervous, and absent-minded to the point of almost complete dis-orientation in time and place.
Of course there is always some suspected physical basis for a condition of this sort, and Sally was under careful medical supervision both before and during the teaching experiment. The obvious supposition was that there was some serious toxic condition underlying the changing mental states. No diagnostic teacher can afford to proceed with a case of this type without the light which can come only from the physician.
On the other hand there was not an absolute line of demarkation between this phase and her best one of alert responsiveness. In dealing with Sally one encountered a sort of wilderness of alternating moods and degrees of efficiency, in which one lost oneself entirely. I became interested in the question as to whether there was any rhythm in the onset of these cloudy epochs, and in order to determine this, kept a daily record. The record was in the form of a simple curve, an estimate being made at the end of each day’s work on the question of her general proficiency for the day. The record was made on the five point scale, 5 representing the highest and 1 the lowest degree of proficiency. The record shown here covers a period of about six weeks, and gives an idea of the degree of consistency observed. The record demonstrates conclusively, of course, that there was no rhythm or order in the fluctuations.
It is undoubtedly true that a daily record of this sort regarding any one of us would show some slight fluctuation, related, of course, to health, diet, sleep, and a hundred and one other external conditions which determine our every-day personality. But in this case, where the environment was constant, the girl subjected to a fixed routine, and no question of health involved (she was in excellent physical condition throughout the teaching experiment), this inconsistency of response was baffling.
There was one rather interesting etiological factor which it was difficult to judge and almost impossible to control. Sally was a light sleeper, and from her very earliest childhood had shown an almost complete dis-orientation regarding time. When she was a wee^girljt was not at all unusual for her to get up in the middle of the night/go to her play-room, turn on the light, and play contentedly until such time as her parents discovered her (they never knew how many hours she spent in this manner). This was in no sense somnambulism; she was as wide awake as in the day-time, as fearless, cheerful and comfortable alone at 3 a. m. as in broad-daylight. It was impossible to predict this performance, for she was as clever at feigning sleep as a little ‘possum.
Aside from her inconsistency there was another significant personality element which made her difficult to deal with. She was one of the most stubborn children I have ever known. Her stubbornness was like that of a grown man?fixed, immutable?the Law of the Medes and Persians was nothing to it. But when she finally chose to get over it, not a trace was left?she was as sweet and gracious as a summer’s day.
As a result of this stubbornness, or lack of conformability, it was almost impossible to break Sally of an unfortunate habit she might acquire. Typical instances of this lack of conformability were the two common child habits of thumb-sucking and nocturnal enuresis, both of which it had been a matter of literally years of strenuous discipline to break up.
In the matter of child interests Sally was also atypical. Where her interest was really intrigued, she showed remarkable vivacity, and as Doctor Witmer phrases it in his analytic diagnosis, zest. She was a truly delightful child to work with in matter pertaining to anything in which she was vitally interested. She was even a superior child, a distinctly superior child, when such matters were involved. One of her “passions” was nature study, more especially the study of insects. I believe that she never forgot a single fact regarding insect life or structure, and I know that in her knowledge of this particular field she was far in advance of her years. I also never knew her to forget the name of a wild flower after the first identification. On a nature study trip or a butterfly hunt Sally was a joy. She was also interested in music, and to a limited degree in drawing and painting. In addition to this she had marked mechanical ingenuity, handling tools like a boy. If we define intelligence as the solution of a new problem, then in the mechanical sense this child’s intelligence rating was very high.
But when it came to the three R’s and books, Sally simply didn’t care. She was a miserable reader?slow and careless, and maddeningly inaccurate, although in no sense of the word an aphasic. Her retention of the material she read, considering the lack of efficiency in the reading itself, was remarkably good. But, brought up as she was in a family of scholars, typical “book-worms,” she was far outstripped by a sister two years younger in the matter of interest in books. She was “from Missouri” when it came to believing in the intrinsic merit and interest and worth-while-ness and joy to be found in books.
At the beginning of our teaching experiment it was torture to her to listen through a story. This came to me as a real shock, for I had never dealt with a child to whom the story was not a sort of boon to be looked forward to after hours of work. It is interesting to note that the first stories in which Sally ever showed more than a faint gleam of interest were the Kipling “Just So Stories.” I believe that they were the beginning of her intellectual “conversion” to the world of books.
It is not the purpose of this study to discuss Sally’s improvement under the diagnostic teaching regime. It is presented rather to show the wonderful assistance given by an analytic diagnosis in getting a picture of a child such as Sally. No one, by the largest stretch of imagination could call a child of this type feebleminded. Yet, before the period of intensive teaching, in so far as ordinary school progress was concerned, from the report of the teacher, one might well judge her to be feebleminded.
An analytic diagnosis schedule, based upon Professor Witmer’s categories of behavior (see preceding article), has recently come into use at the Psychological Clinic. It is of inestimable value in this matter of gaining a real picture of a child, and in case further work is to be done, in showing the salient points of attack. The accompanying chart is scored on the five point scale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, from left to right, 5 being the highest, and 1 the lowest rating on each item. Sally’s psychograph is a most interesting one. A line drawn from X to X on the outline will give the profile. As is to be expected from the discussion, Sally gets her lowest rating (1) in consistency and reliability. (Reliability in this sense does not mean honesty, but more nearly predictability of response.) It is readily understood that with such a condition there must necessarily follow a fluctuation of her rating on many other items. In my final estimate I have tried to strike an average. Sally at her best would receive a score of 4 or more on items such as speed, effort, vivacity, complexity, and zest, besides those already scored high, but when she is at her worst, all these estimates might fall well below 3. Even when confronted with this difficulty, however, I found the chart most helpful in clarifying my picture of the case. It is also to be noticed that my estimates on the items confidence and ambition are low (she is totally indifferent to her own future). Her general orientation is very poor, and her universe absolutely ego-centric. The low rating on persistence is characteristic in
Name: Sally Race: English-German (American 2 generations) ? Born: 1-5-13 Age: 9-3 Culture L: 1 2 3 4 5 Basis of estimate: Clinical examination and months of diagnostic teaching. 1. Proficiency M’s: (See Mental Exam. Blank) Social (B) I. Q. 100 School P. L. _ 8 years 2. Competency .. ? X .. .. 2 Spec. A’s: Discrimination, exploration (?) Ability .. .. X .. .. a Initiative (?) Efficiency .. X b Spec. D’s: Trainability, interests. 3. Speed ..X 3 11. Differentiation (R) (a) Productivity ? ? X .. .. a Sensib: V.A. K. P. G. Very poor Moral; Esthetic (corrected 4. Accuracy: ? ? X .. .. 4 12. Consistency: X .. .. (a) Directions .. ? X .. .. a (a) Reliability X .. .. .. 11 5. Coordination X .. 5 13. A. D. (A. C. A.) .. ? X (o) Cooperation ? ? X ~ .. a (a) Distribution .. .. X .. 13 (6) Planfalness ? ? X ? b Co introl .. X 6 14. Complexity (R): .. .. X (?) Comprehension .. .. X (?) I. S …. X (c) Organizability .. .. X V. Effort Fluctuating.. .. 7 15. Pers. (P. C. A.)-D .. X .. 8. Initiative .. ? ? X .. 8 16. Exploration (No) .. .. X ? 15 .. 16 #. Pertinacity .. .. .. X ? 9 17. Discernment L. .. X .. (a) Endurance .. X .. .. ? a (a) Alertness .. ? X (6) Strength .. X (c) Health .. .. X .. 17 10. Energy, V. ” X 10 18. Interest (No) X .. ? .. .. 18 (?) Excitability .. .. X .. .. a (o) Zest .. X a (i) Vivacity .. .. X .. .. b (e) Motivation .. X c (d) Personality .. .. X .. .. d 19. Trainability .. .. X .. .. 16 (o) Retention .. X a (?) Capacity .. .. X .. .. b 20. Conformability - X 20 21. lmageability X ? 21 22. Originality X .. 22 23. Educalslity .. .. X .. .. 23 (a) Intellect ? .. X .. .. a 24. Convertibility .. X 24 (a) Susceptiwlity .. X a 25- Intelligence .. .. X .. .. 25 -6. Achievement L. .. .. X .. .. 26 27. Confidence .. X 27 <?8. Amotion ..X 28 / 29. Balance .. X 29 (a) Soc. Orientation .. X a JO. Judgment ? .. X .. ? 30
school tasks only?the opposite is true for material in which her interest is thoroughly aroused. As for persistence of the type inherent in stubbornness, Sally has that, enough and to spare. In compensation for the very low ratings on these items, Sally gets 4 on coordination, initiative, pertinacity, imageability, originality, exploration and alertness. A child with an excess in abilities such as these is by no means hopeless. The alertness rating holds true in every field but in that of formal school work, and I believe that the process of converting the child’s interest into this field has begun.
I have given Sally a rating somewhat above 3 on intelligence. From many points of view Sally does deserve a high score here. Moreover, who can deny that it is possible that her very lack of interest in such matters as 3X8 and phonic analysis may be in itself an evidence of marked intelligence?
When it comes to the conclusion of the story, what will Sally’s final level of achievement be? I have no hesitancy in predicting for her a normal life in maturity. As a matter of fact I should rather back Sally’s future than that of her more obviously brilliant brother and sister. The parents, who are her most severe judges, have much the same feeling in this matter?the only persons who seriously question my prediction are to be found in the school. I am not willing to say that she will ever be a college graduate (on the other hand, I am by no means willing to say that she will not), but she will play a normal part in the world.
In my first relation to the child, when confronted by what seemed at times abyssmal stupidity in routine school subjects, I might not have been willing to make so favorable a prognosis. But the new light thrown on Sally by the picture presented by the analytic diagnosis schedule is clear. Sally will make good.
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