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The “Monster Study” That Forced Orphans To Become Stutterers
An attempt to better understand speech disorders in children resulted in a controversial psychology project
Sadly, ethical checks and balances in scientific experimentation is largely only a relatively recent evolution. Throughout history there have been innumerable instances where researchers and scientists have approached and crossed boundaries in the search for answers. One controversial example of this was the “Monster Study,” where a psychologist and his staff used negative speech therapy, including belittlement, to artificially force stutters on to orphans to study the effects of such afflictions.
Dr. Wendell Johnson was a psychologist and speech pathologist who worked for the University of Iowa. One of the projects he decided to pursue was in 1938, studying stuttering — specifically the causes and effects. It was a subject near and dear to him, as when he enrolled in college in 1926 he was a severe stutterer himself. In the ensuing years, he underwent a litany of therapies and experiments to cure him, leading him to write in his journal in 1936, “I’m a professional white rat.”
Johnson enlisted the help of Mary Tudor, one of his clinical graduate students, who he suggested collaborating with him as a master’s…
