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September 30th, 2005
"High court says stuttering victims can sue the University of Iowa"
The Supreme Court of Iowa ruled that participants in a 1939 study are free to sue the University of Iowa, even though the study in question was held 66 years ago. The study was part of a controversial stuttering experiment conducted by then graduate student Mary Jacobs under tutelage of famed speech researcher Wendell Johnson.
The experiment posited that stuttering could be worsened and more long lasting with negative reinforcement. Orphans from a nearby orphanage were used in the study and were divided into two groups: normal speakers and stutterers. The normal speakers in the experimental group were given excessive positive reinforcement while the stutterers in the experimental group were given severe admonishments.
The stuttering children were told to try to speak correctly over and over, in various negative ways. Most of the stuttering children in the experimental group had an increase in stuttering speech. Many of the children purportedly suffered lifelong stuttering and related suffering from the experiment.
