Revival: Nervous and Mental Re-Education (1924)

Shepherd Ivory Franz

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351341882
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

The problems of readjustment, for the individual and for the business purse and for the state, which inevitably follow war are most important at the present moment. Almost five years after the end of the Great Conflict, many of these problems are still facing us, and it will take many more years before they are settled. One who is interested in the statistics of conditions will find many places in which they can be found. Although statistics show what exists or has existed, they seldom provide advice regarding the solutions. The present work is entirely lacking in statistics It is intended to be of assistance in the solution of some problems.

Part I
Basis and General Concept of Re-Education

Chapter I
What is Re-Education?

Re-education involves the same principles as other kinds of education, and in no particular do the general principles of education and re-education differ. It is well recognized that both the general and special education of any individual are matters of habit formation. Certain differences exist in the various kinds of education, but these differences are relatively slight as compared with the similarities. In general the difference between what is called education and that called reeducation is a difference of direction or aim, or that of material. In education habits are formed on the basis of the instinctive tendencies of an individual who is endowed with a normal number and a normal quality of parts. When the individual who is normal loses some of his parts, or the parts become useless because of distant disturbances, it becomes necessary to utilize other parts as replacements if the individual is to be self-supporting or an active participant in the life of his community. The original instinctive tendencies, which depend upon the integrity of the parts assumed to be destroyed, cannot now be used in the formation of new habits, and other instinctive tendencies must be utilized. In some cases another part of the body is made use of.

In its broadest sense re-education, therefore, is a replacement of bad habits with better habits, or it is the formation of new habits to replace habits which have been lost. We shall appreciate this better if we consider briefly certain normal habits, how they vary, and what takes place in the process of re-education in order that there shall be a compensation for lost habits.

Some of the things we call habits are social; each individual in the social stratum has them. Others relate to smaller groups, and to belong to these smaller groups the individual must have certain kinds or constellations of habits. Still other habits are purely personal; they are of a certain character for one individual in a group or in a family. In fact, the term habit is used properly to describe more than ninety-nine per cent of the daily activities of a waking individual. We have habits of eating and of drinking, of dressing and of purchasing clothing, or using furniture and ornaments; we have habits of speech and of thought.

The child, whether black or white or brown or yellow, is born with certain instinctive tendencies to action. The movements are sometimes spoken of as reflex movements, but they do not differ materially from many other movements which are not of as definite a character. Appropriate stimuli will start the machinery so that a certain result is obtained. An object placed in the hand produces a grasping or clutching movement of the fingers, an object placed on the lips brings about a grasping movement of the lips and if the object is grasped sucking movements follow. As the child grows older the parents, or nurse, make an effort to wean the child. Either the child is not presented to the breast of the mother, or the nursing bottle is not given to him. The resulting lack of satisfaction of hunger by the usual means causes the child to take on or assume an activity somewhat different from that to which he has been accustomed. The milk is presented in a spoon or in a cup, or a piece of food is given on a fork or on a spoon. At times it is difficult for the child to acquire this new method of feeding; he is, we say, refractory. But after repeated efforts the child soon adopts the method of taking his food which the parents or nurse desire him to adopt. He forms a new habit to take the place of the primitive reflex or instinctive activity, and this habit, it will be noted, differs according to the social environment.

After the period of suckling the Chinese baby advances to the use of chopsticks. Children of the so-called western civilization acquire the habit of using a spoon, a knife and a fork. Some learn—form the habit—to hold the fork in the left hand, and consistently hold it in that hand whenever a knife is also employed at the same time. Others change the fork to the right hand after the meat or other food is cut, and do not learn to use the left hand for the manipulation of the fork in conveying food to the mouth. A few learn to use the knife in the left hand and the fork only in the right, these being the left-handed. Later in life some of the left-handed also learn to use the knife with the right hand and the fork with the left as most other persons do. They try thus to conform to the habits of the great majority of the community in this respect. Other differences in the habits of using table utensils are readily seen by an observer. These differences are very evident at the popular lunch counter. Here there will be observed very different habits of manipulation of knife and fork and spoon. A variety of ways of using napkins and of arranging dishes may also be seen. In addition the actual operations of eating, whether one chews his food thoroughly or almost bolts it as do many animals, the sipping of drinks, and even the insistence on certain combinations of foods in a restaurant are habits.

Let the right-handed reader observe himself while stirring a cup of tea or coffee with a spoon. The movement is made evenly, without difficulty. Then let him try to do the same thing with his other hand. The movement is irregular, awkward or incoördinate, and difficult. The left hand and arm have not been taught to do this; they have not acquired the special habit. But if periods of practice are taken, the left hand will acquire the habit so perfectly that the movements will be performed as quickly and as regularly as are those with the right hand. The adjustments, nervous and muscular, are made after a few practice periods, and the left hand and arm may therefore be used instead of the right. There has been a kind of re-education, that re-education which is of the nature of substitution.

In dressing a man habitually places one leg into his trousers first, be that the right or the left. He has learned—he has acquired the habit—to make certain movements in a regular course in putting on his clothes, and he uses his hands in certain definite ways in doing these things. His collar is grasped in a certain fashion, his tie is turned by the right or by the left hand, he laces his shoes and ties the knot in special ways. These things are done rapidly and accurately. The recruit has not acquired any special habit with his soldier clothes, his leggings feel peculiar, he works over them until they are finally adjusted. His hat strap bothers him, and it takes him much time to get it in such a position that he is comfortable. Compare this with the veteran, who appears to make his adjustments with ease and without obviously special care. The latter's habits have, however, been formed, and his dressing has taken on that habitual character which is noticed in the civilian. Let the soldier or civilian encounter a condition that makes necessary a new movement, and he becomes slow and inaccurate. When the buttonhole on the collar band is a trifle large, there is considerable fumbling until the proper adjustment is made.

When one has been accustomed to wear suspenders and changes to a belt, he usually finds the change uncomfortable; he has the feeling of incompleteness or of lacking something. He has become habituated to making reactions with the pressure of the suspenders on his shoulders and his reactions are not as ready and as comfortable without this pressure. Conversely the reactions of an individual are awkward when he begins to wear suspenders after having worn a belt for a long time. He has acquired the habits of reaction with his trousers supported at the hips, and it takes him some time to adjust to the unusual condition. Let a man don a woman's sweater and try to button it. The buttons are on the left side instead of on the right, and he gropes (for he has formed this habit) with the right hand for the buttons. If he is to wear the sweater for any length of time, he must become re-educated to use the hands differently. In other words, he must form new replacement habits.

The purchasing of certain foods and of certain special articles of clothing and other supplies is largely a matter of habit. This may be illustrated well by an extreme example. The steady drinker of alcoholic liquors forms the habit of stopping at certain saloons en route from his work. If one of his oases is closed he experiences actual discomfort; his schedule is thrown out of plumb. In his walk he stops at the usual place, although he knows the place has been closed, and for many days, even though he may not stop to turn in, he hesitates in passing the place. In this case, as in many of our activities, the stimuli in sequence act successively to bring about reactions. Many persons have the habit of using a certain sort of pencil and paper, and are unable to perform their work if the special kinds are not available. We go to special shops for special things, although we might satisfy all our wants as cheaply and as well in one large store. We buy neckties of a certain color or of a limited few colors or patterns. Some purchase only ties that are bizarre, and others only those that are quiet in color tone, regardless of the color combinations.

Many persons explain these habits in intellectual terms. They say they buy a hexagonal pencil because that kind of pencil gives them the best results; they can hold it better than a round one. They contend that the having of a pocket on the left breast of a coat is useless, and at times dangerous because of the possibility of loss therefrom. They require their tailors to make their coats without that pocket and with an inside upper pocket. It is a fact, however, that we use a certain pencil, hard or soft, or round or hexagonal, because of habit. That kind of pencil was used by us under certain special conditions, and whenever these conditions arise we demand the same kind of implement for the proper performance of the work. So also with the pockets which the tailor makes in the coat. We have formed the habit of using the left-hand inner pocket for a note book and the demand that the coat be made in this way is in reality a demand that our habits shall not be interfered with.

An individual wears ornaments to which he has become accustomed—which he has formed the habit of wearing. There are many peculiar habits attached to these decorations. During a lecture or an address, or even in ordinary conversation, some speakers continually manipulate their eye glasses on their chain. Others fumble with their watch chains, or twist the chain around one finger. By force of habit we wear certain rings on certain fingers. If a man is accustomed to wear a pin in his scarf and loses his pin, he experiences a feeling that something is lacking until habit is satisfied and he has another pin. After wearing a wrist watch a number of years a man may retain the habit of raising the arm to learn the time, even if he has discarded that kind of watch. Not infrequently the habit of wearing such an ornament as a wrist watch results in laughable situations. Thus the writer has seen a woman at a bathing beach unconsciously continue to wear her watch when going into the water. The habit of wearing the watch is so firmly fixed that the new situation does not inhibit it, even though dangerous to the watch. Doubtless if the woman were asked she would say she never wore her watch when taking a bath. The habit of wearing it was replaced by the habit of taking it off under the usual conditions of bathing.

Because of habit we sit on chairs, we sleep in beds, and we write on tables and on desks. Were it not for habit, what a painful process it would be to learn the use of a telephone each time we desired to use it! A man that has formed the habit of pressing a button beside a table in his club, if he desires a bell boy, will experience actual discomfort if he is a visitor in a club where bell boys are called in another fashion. As an evidence of habits formed in that way, consider the difficulty many persons have in sleeping in Pullman cars. They have formed the habit of sleeping in their own beds, which have a certain degree of softness or of hardness, and which have pillows of a certain thickness and ease. When these conditions are changed, and especially when there are added to these special differences the inclosed space, the motion of the train and the noise, the new combination frequently overcomes the physiological necessity of sleep. These things act as stimuli against sleep; they interfere with special habits. Some persons have not formed the habit of sleeping in one place under one set of conditions. They travel extensively and their physiological need for sleep is not adversely influenced by hardness of the bed, by the size of the pillow, by noise or by other slight variations from what most persons consider the normal. They are able to sleep on a hard bench or on the ground, they sleep in a narrow berth on a steamship, or equally well in an upper or a lower Pullman berth.

Consider how in writing a letter we have the habit of saying: "My dear sir," "Yours truly," "Respectfully yours," and so on. All these verbal forms are of an habitual nature; they are not dictated by intellect. The writer may despise him whom he addresses as "dear sir." He may feel nothing but contempt for the man to whom he writes "respectfully yours." But he has the habit of beginning and of ending a letter in that fashion, and thus he writes it. One lifts his hat when he meets a woman acquaintance. He salutes his superior officers. He offers his arm to a woman companion. He does these things because it is his habit to do them. So an individual has an habitual manner of addressing different persons under varying conditions. He may say "How are you?" or "How do you do!" or "Hello." Some men have the habit of saying "Ah, there!" by way of greeting. It is all a matter of habit.

Whether a child learns to speak English or Chinese is a matter of the reception of certain stimuli which bring about the special habits. The speech mechanisms of a Chinese baby and of an American baby are essentially the same. The Oriental and Occidental manners of speech vary according to the habits that are formed. But not only is the kind of language a habit, but most of our daily conversation also consists of a collection of special vocal habits. We say those words we have frequently said before; we use phrases to which we are accustomed. Habit, then, not only forces us to speak English, French, Chinese or Pali, but it also regulates or compels our intonations and our utilization or non-utilization of certain words and phrases. One group of Americans is noted for its nasal twang; in other words for its habit of so using the vocal apparatus that this special intonation is apparent. This manner of speaking can be corrected or replaced by a non-nasal speech by suitable practice. A new habit can be formed—there can be re-education—so that the speech approaches that which is called normal. Another group of our people is noted for a drawl, but this also gives way to a more normal manner of speech if attention is directed to the production of this habit. Expression also is habitual. A man learns to swear, and he uses oaths of all kinds to begin, to fill in and to end all his sentences. Colloquialisms and provincialisms also are matters of habit; they disappear when new and more conventional habits are formed.

Even modes of thought move along paths of habit. The physician, habitually looking for them, sees pathological conditions everywhere. His attention is directed to abnormalities—a cough of a certain character, a limp, a peculiar expression of listening. Many of the things to which he pays attention do not attract the attention of the layman. The machinist has his own habitual methods of thought. He considers an engine in terms of materials and finish and the methods used to produce the object. A humorist can pick out of a situation certain elements lost to the majority. An experienced newspaper man views an accident or a crime or a fire in terms of a "story." Each has his own habit of thought and applies it to every situation. If for any reason the physician or the machinist or the newspaper man is compelled to give up his special work and adopt another vocation, he must learn the habits of action and of thought appropriate to his new occupation. The one-time physician who becomes a business executive can no longer react to skin colors, or to limps, or to other indications of pathological conditions. He is re-educated to think in terms of work-hours, or of work-hour-tons, or of overhead costs and the like. And the humorist cannot be successful as a lawyer if he retains his habit of selecting the bizarre and of pointing out the unexpected; he must form the habit of looking at a case in a different fashion. The physician changed into a business executive may retain a certain number of his former professional habits and the humorist who has been graduated into the law may still retain his ability to tell a funny story or to make a joke, but neither of these men can successfully follow his new calling and retain all his old habits. Some of his habits must be replaced by others.

So much for the education of so-called normal individuals. The same principle of habit formation obtains in the re-education of the abnormal. For instance, the problem that confronts the man who has lost his right arm by amputation near the shoulder is that of forming a number of new habits that will compensate for the loss. All the useful habits of the lost arm must be replaced by other habits if he is to approach his normal uninjured condition. Some are replaced by the formation of habits of using an artificial arm and others by the utilization of the left arm and hand. The use of an orthopedic appliance, such as an artificial arm, involves the learning of many new adjustments. Some appliances have been so ingeniously constructed that the defects due to an amputation near the shoulder can be overcome, even to the use of fingers. One of these artificial arms, constructed and used under the direction of the eminent French re-educator, Amar, permits the patient to use a typewriter, play billiards, and make many other fine adjustments. It is important, however, to realize that these fine movements are acquired only after a long period of practice. New habits must be acquired. The many straps and connections on this arm are manipulated by movements of the muscles of the shoulder girdle, of the neck, and of the other arm. There is here a functional replacement in which the groups of large muscles learn to move in a fixed way, in other words their habitual manner of reaction is replaced by a new habit. The Amar arm is useful for only a few individuals. The time required to learn the use of this appliance is long. In many cases it is realized that the finer movements are relatively unimportant, and in these latter cases use is made of much simpler appliances. The grosser forms of adjustment can be learned in a short time. This is especially true of those efforts toward providing re-education for certain kinds of work, such as farming. The use of a spade, the driving of a horse, the direction of a plow require steady but not fine movements, and an artificial arm with a hook or with a claw can be substituted for the more elaborate arm which is needed for typewriting.

But even if many habits are regained for the lost arm by the use of an orthopedic appliance, it takes too long to acquire many important habits involving the finer movements. Some habits that depend on fine coördination—such as those involving use of the fingers—must be replaced in another way. It is impossible to adjust many artificial arms so that they can compensate for all purpose of the lost arm. It becomes necessary to train the remaining hand and arm to perform these delicate operations which are most needed. This kind of education takes less time than that of the utilization of a complex artificial hand and arm, and is most frequently attempted. The man then learns to use his left hand for the performance of those acts in which he formerly used both hands, and for those acts in which he formerly used the right hand. He learns to button his clothing, to tie his shoes and to open his purse. Many other common daily tasks are carried out with a surprising degree of speed and accuracy by his new adjustments.

This represents one type of re-education—the type in which there has been anatomical loss. Re-education in this sense is the formation of a new set of habits by one side or by one part of the body to take the place of old habits that were lost because of the loss of another part of the body. This type of re-education takes place also in a number of cases of paralysis.

In the re-education of persons with speech defects all attempt is made to teach the individual who speaks badly, who stammers or stutters, to replace the old habit of speech by a habit more normal. This is done by correcting the defects due to nervousness, by showing the individual the normal, correct manner of placing his lips and tongue to form certain sounds, and by requiring him to form new habits of a correct kind, and by forming the habits of coordination of respiratory with tongue and lip movements. In this case re-education involves the production of a good habit to replace a bad or an ineffective habit.

Persons suffering from aphasia—loss of the speech function—must also be re-educated if they are to be comfortable and useful. In these cases the process is similar to that of the education of a young child who has not already learned to speak. In reality the aphasic condition is nearly like that of the infant, with the notable exception that the aphasic has been able to speak at one time and has lost this ability. The aphasic must be taught anew to use his speech muscles in the proper ways. He must also acquire habits of coordination of these muscles, so that his vocalization corresponds with that of normal persons. He must learn that "h-o-r-s-e" is to be pronounced "horse," and not "ou-ey." He must form the habit of speech reaction practically from the beginning, knitting or combining the movements of his vocal apparatus so that he emits sounds which are recognized by others.

Brief mention may also be made here of the principle of re-education with another abnormal class—that of the insane. A careful analysis forces us to conclude that insanity is in essentials the condition or conditions in which certain habits normal to persons of the indivdual's station and class are lost, or in which the habits of reacting of that individual are replaced by bizarre or perverted habits. In other wor...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Original Title
• Original Copyright
• PREFACE
• Contents
• PART I. BASIS AND GENERAL CONCEPT OF RE-EDUCATION
• PART II. GENERAL RE-EDUCATION PRINCIPLES
• PART III. NEUROLOGICAL AND MENTAL ADJUSTMENTS
• INDEX