This Obscure Study on Orphans that Should Have Never Been Allowed
This one is hard to stomach. “TIL that in 1939 an experiment was conducted at the University of Iowa on orphans in which the purpose was to induce stuttering in otherwise normally speaking children. Dubbed the ‘monster study’, it caused lifelong psychological issues in some of the subjects.” – Obscure Fact by TuffLaw. Boy, this is a sad one. But let’s look at some of the details.
In 1939, Wendell Johnson, a distinguished University of Iowa speech expert, set out to unravel the mystery of stuttering. He decided to do this by trying to induce the disorder in orphans. His hypothesis for the experiment was that stuttering was a learned behavior; parents criticizing their children for the slightest speech imperfections would trigger a study. The experiment? Belittle 11 orphans for the slightest speech mistakes to try and trigger a stutter due to psychological pressure. The experiment was unsuccessful. Yet, still highly unethical and cruel. Since then, the University of Iowa has issued an apology.