By orientation test I mean simply a vague try-out to see just where the
problem lies; an initial step to see what further steps are necessary; or in
other words enough of an investigation to know where to look next.
The orientation tests consisted in requesting a series of twenty stuttering
cases to answer two questions. Following their answers an immediate
inspection was made of the content of their consciousness before, during,
and after speech. These two questions were as follows:
1. Where do you live?
2. Say after me "The dog ran across the street."
After these questions I asked the patients to state whether there was any
picture in the content of consciousness and how long it lasted; also whether
that was detailed, intense or weak. I noted the presence of stuttering in
relation to the presence or absence of this mental imagery; and also made a
note of any other unusual data that happened. The results of the tests
indicated above can be summarized as follows:
Of the twenty stutterers examined, ten made no visualization of their homes,
some even after a residence of years; one of these twenty visualized home
very faintly; two others visualized home clearly but the picture vanished on
speaking; seven others visualized home clearly but these had been under
treatment.
On repeating the dog statement, ten stutterers made no visualization
whatever; one visualized faintly; four visualized well but the picture
vanished on speaking; five others reported visualization, and four of these
had been under treatment.
At first I did not know but what this was the norm of average visualization
methods; so I tried this same series upon a number of normal individuals for
comparison; by normal individuals, I mean, at this time, merely anyone who
is free from stuttering, and chosen in a haphazard way from the hospital
community; for example, one was our executive secretary, another a
typewriter, another a telephone operator and so on.