Behavioral engineering: stuttering as a function of stimulus duration during speech synchronization

Past studies have shown that stuttering is eliminated when speech is synchronized with a metronomic beat, but the speech sounds artificial. The present study investigated the effect of increasing the duration of these individual stimulus beats with the stimulus-off period constant at 1 sec. When subjects were instructed to speak during the stimulus-on period, stuttering was an inverse function of stimulus duration, indicating that the known metronome effect on stuttering is one point on a continuum of effective rhythm procedures. The "naturalness" of speech increased as the stimulus duration increased up to durations of about 2 sec, and then decreased. At optimal values, stuttering was greatly reduced and naturalness and rapidity of speech were retained. These optimal values effectively controlled stuttering in a field test that used two types of specially designed portable instruments, one of which produced a tactual stimulus and the other an auditory stimulus.     

Manipulation of self-destruction in three retarded children

The study attempted to isolate some of the environmental conditions that controlled the self-destructive behavior of three severely retarded and psychotic children. In the extinction study subjects were placed in a room where they were allowed to hurt themselves, isolated from interpersonal contact. They eventually ceased to hurt themselves in that situation, the rate of self-destruction falling gradually over successive days. In the punishment study, subjects were administered painful electric shock contingent on the self-destructive behavior. (1) The self-destructive behavior was immediately suppressed. (2) The behavior recurred when shock was removed. (3) The suppression was selective, both across physical locales and interpersonal situations, as a function of the presence of shock. (4) Generalized effects on other, non-shock behaviors, appeared in a clinically desirable direction. Finally, a study was reported where self-destructive behavior increased when certain social attentions were given contingent upon that behavior.