Monster Study In 1939, Mary Tudor and Wendell Johnson performed a stuttering experiment on 22 orphan children in Davenport, Iowa. The purpose of the experiment was to induce and make healthy children learn how to stutter. He wanted to prove that stuttering was not a genetic cause. He believed that labeling children as a stutterer caused them to become a stutterer. 22 orphans ranging from age 5 to 15 were used. 10 of the orphans were already marked as stutterers before the experiment. The kids were arranged in groups according to their speech level. Group IA consisted of 5 orphans whose speech level was fine. Group IB (control group) consisted of 5 orphans who’s speech level was bad. Group IIA consisted of 6 normal fluent orphans who were told that their speech was not normal and they were told that they were beginning to stutter. They were also told that
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Group IIA /Group IIB were compared to Group IA /Group IB who were not criticized or encouraged either they stuttered or they didn’t. The results were never published. Tudor and Johnson feared it would be linked to Nazi experiments. Group IIB suffered physiologically and needed psychological and medical attention.
Speculation The abuse of science in The Monster Case occurred when the children were defenseless and forced into an experiment that messed with them physiologically. Most of the children did not have a stutter problem and they were forced to think that they did. Forcing defenseless children to accept a condition that they don’t suffer of in order to prove that stuttering is learned rather than a genetic cause is abuse of science and unethical because the kids were negatively affected especially Group IIA and the results were not even published by Tudor and Johnson.
Sources: 4
Erard, Michael. "STUTTER, MEMORY." Lingua Franca: The Review Of Academic Life 11, no. 8 (November 2001): 40. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 6,
Group IIA /Group IIB were compared to Group IA /Group IB who were not criticized or encouraged either they stuttered or they didn’t. The results were never published. Tudor and Johnson feared it would be linked to Nazi experiments. Group IIB suffered physiologically and needed psychological and medical attention.
Speculation The abuse of science in The Monster Case occurred when the children were defenseless and forced into an experiment that messed with them physiologically. Most of the children did not have a stutter problem and they were forced to think that they did. Forcing defenseless children to accept a condition that they don’t suffer of in order to prove that stuttering is learned rather than a genetic cause is abuse of science and unethical because the kids were negatively affected especially Group IIA and the results were not even published by Tudor and Johnson.
Sources: 4
Erard, Michael. "STUTTER, MEMORY." Lingua Franca: The Review Of Academic Life 11, no. 8 (November 2001): 40. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 6,