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Applications of space time adaptive processing Richard
Klemm Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Richard Klemm
ISBN(s): 9780852969243, 0852969244
Edition: illustrated edition
File Details: PDF, 45.10 MB
Year: 2004
Language: english
 Applications of
Space-Time Adaptive
Processing
Edited by
Richard Klemm

The Institution of Electrical Engineers

Published by: The Institution of Electrical Engineers, London,
United Kingdom
© 2004: The Institution of Electrical Engineers
This publication is copyright under the Berne Convention and the Universal
Copyright Convention. All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the
purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced,
stored or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, only with the prior permission
in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in
accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the
publishers at the undermentioned address:
The Institution of Electrical Engineers,
Michael Faraday House,
Six Hills Way, Stevenage,
Herts., SGl 2AY, United Kingdom
While the authors and the publishers believe that the information and guidance
given in this work are correct, all parties must rely upon their own skill and
judgment when making use of them. Neither the authors nor the publishers assume
any liability to anyone for any loss or damage caused by any error or omission in the
work, whether such error or omission is the result of negligence or any other cause.
Any and all such liability is disclaimed.
The moral right of the authors to be identified as authors of this work have been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Klemm, Richard
Applications of space-time adaptive processing
1. Adaptive signal processing 2. Adaptive antennas 3. Radar
4. Sonar
I. Title II. Institution of Electrical Engineers
621.3'848

ISBN 0 85296 924 4

Typeset in India by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India

Printed in the UK by MPG Books Limited, Bodmin, Cornwall
 Preface

I have been asked frequently which is the more difficult task, to write a book on your
own or to edit a multiauthor book such as the one at hand. I have tried both and found
that each of the two kinds of project has its own charming facets. It is a pity that the
work is done now - 1 enjoyed so much working on these books.
My first book 'Space-time adaptive processing - principles and applications'
(IEE, 1998) contains mainly a summary of my own work in this fascinating area,
specialising in the most popular application: clutter suppression for airborne radar.
The book has been so well received that a second extended edition 'Principles of
space-time adaptive processing' appeared in 2002.
While working on the second edition it came to my mind that this book con-
tains only a subset of the broad field of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) and,
moreover, reflects only my personal view of the subject. In particular, aspects of
STAP operation on real clutter data are missing. Therefore, I proposed to the IEE to
edit another book on STAP comprising a large variety of contributions by different
distinguished authors so as to cover the entire area of space-time processing as much
as possible. In contrast to my first book, applications of STAP are emphasised in this
volume. The publisher kindly agreed to this ambitious plan, and I approached a large
number of scientists well known in the STAP field and asked them for cooperation.
I am amazed that almost all individuals I contacted immediately agreed to contribute.
The total number of contributors amounts to 45!
Waves are by nature functions of space and time. Whoever deals with the inter-
pretation of waves has to apply space-time processing techniques. The fundamental
paper by Brennan and Reed 'Theory of adaptive radar' (IEEE Trans. AES, 9, (2),
March, 1973, pp. 237-252) has been formulated already in space-time notation, thus
addressing the effects of broadband array antennas. In this paper by 'time' the fast
(range equivalent) time was meant. Three years later the same authors extended their
ideas to the use of array antennas in the space-slow time domain (pulse-to-pulse) for
clutter rejection in moving radar systems. This was the first publication on what most
people in the radar community understand by STAR
The book is subdivided into two main sections: A 'Suppression of clutter in
moving radar' and B 'Other space-time processing applications'. Each main section
is divided in different parts dedicated to specific aspects of space-time processing.
 Section A consists of four parts which deal with various aspects of the traditional
STAP in GMTI (ground moving target indication) applications for moving radar plat-
forms such as an aircraft or a satellite. Here the reader may find detailed information
on topics such as STAP and SAR, space-based MTI, specific antenna configurations,
STAP performance in real, heterogeneous clutter, specific (e.g. non-linear) algo-
rithms and processor architectures, robust signal detection techniques, non-adaptive
space-time clutter filters, effect of range ambiguous clutter etc.
Section B includes specific applications of space-time techniques in various
disciplines such as fast time STAP for broadband radar (jammer cancellation, super-
resolution), tracking of ground targets with STAP radar, interference reduction in
over-the-horizon radar (with reference to terrain scattered jamming). Another part is
dedicated to applications in seismics and acoustics. The last part deals with space-
time techniques as proposed for communication systems, including mitigation of
mutual interference in cellular phones, reduction of multipath effects in underwater
communications, interference suppression for GPS and space-time coding.
At the end of each chapter a brief summary is given in which the major insights
are highlighted. Moreover, each chapter concludes with a list of references which
helps the interested reader to find in-depth background literature. The total number
of references amounts to about 900.
I hope that the reader will enjoy reading this unique book and will appreciate the
effort made by 45 leading experts in the space-time processing field in order to bring
their individual expertise to the reader's attention. In particular, by having a look
'over the fence' in other fields I expect some cross-fertilisation between different
but somehow related disciplines. It is intended that scientists working in different
disciplines may learn from each other, and that new ideas based on the fruit harvested
already in a neighbour's garden are stimulated. If this expectation comes true the
team of authors has reached its goal.
I want to express my gratitude to all the authors who did a tremendous work in
contributing to this unique book and encouraging the editor in his ambitious under-
taking. It was a real pleasure to work with all of them. I am grateful to K. Kriicker
and J. Ender of FGAN for supporting this work. I want to thank the IEE personally
and on behalf of all the authors for the excellent job done. Specifically I would like to
thank the anonymous reviewers for their revision of the manuscript, the commission-
ing editor Sarah Kramer and the editorial assistant, Wendy Hiles, for the excellent
cooperation and the high quality of the final product.
Richard Klemm
 Glossary

a auxiliary channel vector

a noise-to-clutter ratio
ABF adaptive beamforming
ACP auxiliary channel processor
ACE adaptive coherence estimator
ADC analogue-to-digital conversion
AEP auxiliary eigenvector processor
AEW airborne early warning
AIC akaike information criterion
ALQ adaptive linear quadratic
AMF adaptive matched filter
AoA angle of arrival
Ar received signal amplitude
ARMA autoregressive moving average
ASB adaptive sidelobe blanker
ASEP auxiliary sensor/echo processor
ASFF auxiliary sensor FIR filter processor
ATI along-track interferometry
AWACS Airborne Warning and Control System
AWGN additive white Gaussian noise

b beamformer vector
B bandwidth
B number of beamformer elements
BASS-ALE broadband signal subspace spatial-spectral estimation
Bc clutter bandwidth
#D Doppler bandwidth
/3 look angle relative to array axis
BER bit error rate
BF beamforming
BICM bit interleaved coded modulation
BK backward method
bk beamformer weights
BLAST Bell Labs layered space-time transceiver
BLE block linear equaliser
BS basestation
Bs system bandwidth
BW beamwidth

c light velocity
C number of space-time channels
c vector of clutter echoes
cF vector of clutter spectral components
Cr transformed vector of clutter echoes
CALC constrained averaged likelihood ratio
CCD concealment, camouflage and deception
CCI cochannel interference
CDMA code division multiple access
CE capacity efficient
CFAR constant false alarm rate
CGM conjugate gradient method
CIG common image gathers
CMP common midpoint
CMT covariance matrix taper
CNR clutter-to-noise power ratio
Coho coherent oscillator
COMET covariance matching estimation techniques
CPI coherent processing interval
CRB Cramer-Rao bound
CRP common reflection point
CRS common reflection surface
CSM cross spectral metric
CSST coherent signal subspace transformation
CW continuous wave

d sensor spacing
dimSS dimension of signal subspace
D(O) vertical sensor directivity pattern
D{(p) horizontal sensor directivity pattern
ds subarray displacement
DSW direct subarray weighting
DUM direct uniform manifold model
dx sensor spacing in ^-direction
dy sensor spacing in y-direction
dz sensor spacing in z-direction
D3LS direct data domain least-squares
AR width of range bin
DF decision feedback
DFB Doppler filter bank
DFT discrete Fourier transform
DL downlink
DMO dip moveout
DoA direction of arrival
DoF degrees of freedom
DPCA displaced phase centre antenna
DS direct sequence

e/ unit vector (7-th column of unit matrix)

E{} expectation
ESPRIT estimation of signal parameters by rotational invariance
techniques
E(t) envelope of transmitted waveform

f vector of D F T or D F B output signals

F D F T matrix, Doppler filter bank
F normalised target Doppler frequency
(p azimuth
FAP (optimum) fully adaptive processor
FB forward-backward method
cpc clutter angle of arrival
/c carrier frequency
/D Doppler frequency
FD frequency domain
FDFF frequency domain FIR filter
FDSP frequency dependent spatial processing
FFT fast Fourier transform
FIR finite impulse response
O^ spatial phase term
FL forward looking
<^L look angle
F-LAS fading-large angle spread
/Ny Nyquist frequency
/PR pulse repetition frequency, PRF
/r relative clutter Doppler frequency, normalised by maximum
clutter Doppler frequency
FREQUENCY frequency associated with TIME (fast radar time)
/s spatial frequency
F-SAS fading-small angle spread
FT Fourier transform
O* temporal phase term
FW forward method
G(.) transmit directivity pattern
GAA Gaussian angle of arrival
GER generalised eigenrelation
GIP generalised inner product
GLRT generalised likelihood ratio test
GSLC generalised sidelobe canceller
GMTI ground moving target indication

H platform altitude above ground

HRR high range resolution

I identity matrix
ICI intercell interference
ICM internal clutter motion
IF improvement factor
IF intermediate frequency
IID independent and identically distributed
HR infinite impulse response
IMM interacting multiple models
int{} next integer number
ISAR inverse synthetic aperture radar
ISI intersymbol interference

j jammer vector
J number of jammers
J Fisher information matrix
JD joint detection
JDL joint domain localised
JDL-GLR joint-domain localised generalised likelihood ratio
ji /-th jammer signal component
jik /fc-th element of the Fisher information matrix
JNR jammer-to-noise ratio
Joint-STARS joint strategic target attack radar system

K reduced number of antenna channels

KASSPER knowledge aided sensor signal processing and expert reasoning

L number of FIR filter taps, temporal dimension of

space-time FIR filter
L(.) reflectivity function
LAN local area network
A wavelength
LD linear dispersion
LMI lean matrix inversion
LMS least mean square
LO low observable
LoS line of sight

M number of echo pulses or temporal samples

MAC media access layer
MAI multiple access interference
MCARM multichannel airborne radar measurement
MDL minimum description length
MDV minimum discernable velocity
MEM maximum entropy method
MF matched filter
MFR matched filter response
MGLRT modified generalised likelihood ratio test
MIMO multiple input, multiple output
MISO multiple input, single output
ML maximum likelihood
MLSE maximum likelihood sequence estimator
MMSE minimum mean square error
MRC maximum ratio combining
MS mobile station
MSAR multichannel SAR
MTD moving target detector
MTDI moving target detection and imaging
MTI moving target indicator
/x factor determining the number of Doppler channels
MUSIC multiple signal classification
MVE minimum variance estimator

N noise covariance matrix

n noise vector
N number of antenna elements
TVe number of eigenvalues
np noise spectrum vector
NIC network interface card
NIP normal incidence point
NIR noise-to-interference ratio
NMO normal moveout
iix transformed noise vector
Nt number of transmit elements

O zero matrix
OAP optimum adaptive processor
OC optimum combining
OFDM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
coc carrier frequency
coj) angular Doppler frequency
OPP orthogonal projection processor
OUS overlapping uniform subarray configuration

PAM pulse amplitude modulation

Pc clutter power
PCI principal components inverse
PD pulse Doppler
PDA probabilistic data association
PDF probability distribution function
PDOF product of the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom
PDR pulse Doppler radar
PEP pairwise error probability
PHY physical layer
Pj jammer power
Pn noise power
Pr received signal power
PRF pulse repetition frequency
PRI pulse repetition interval
PRT pulse repetition time
Ps signal power
PSD power spectral density
PSF point spreading function
x/s crab angle
PSK phase shift keying
PST power-selective training
Pt transmitted power

q interference vector
Q number of data vectors, number of normal modes
Q interference + noise covariance matrix
QAM quadrature amplitude modulation
Qc, Q (c) clutter covariance matrix
QF interference + noise power spectral matrix
Qi interference covariance matrix
Qj jammer covariance matrix
Qn noise covariance matrix
QoS quality of service
QoT quality of transmission
QPSK quaternary phase shift keying
Qs signal covariance matrix
QT transformed interference + noise covariance matrix
R number of range increments
R range
R covariance matrix of signal + interference + noise
/?2 w two-way slant range
r9o quarter wave sampling interval
RCS radar cross section
RF radiofrequency
Rg ground range
p autocorrelation
RL-STAP Rome Laboratory space-time adaptive processing
RMS root-mean-square
Rs slant range
R(t) range
Rx receive

s signal vector
S signal + clutter covariance matrix
s(-) steering vector
SAR synthetic aperture radar
SAS symmetric auxiliary sensor configuration
SC single carrier
SCNR signal-to-clutter + noise ratio
SCR signal-to-clutter power ratio
SD/TD/CDMA space division/time division/code division multiple access
SDM spectral density matrix
SDMA space division multiple access
SER symbol error rate
Sp signal spectrum vector
E DPCA shift operator
SIMO single input, multiple output
sine (X) sin(x)/x
SINR signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio
SIRP spherically invariant random process
SISO single input, single output
SL sidelooking
SM spatial multiplexing
SM signal match
SMI sample matrix inverse
SNIR signal-to-noise + interference ratio
SNR signal-to-noise power ratio
SoI signal of interest
s r (t) received signal
ST space-time
ST transformed signal vector
STAP space-time adaptive processing
STBC space-time block code
STFT short-time Fourier transform
STTC space-time trellis code
SVD singular value decomposition

t time
T pulse repetition interval
T space-time transform matrix
r echo delay
xt round trip delay
TCM trellis coded modulation
TDD time division duplex
TDMA time division multiple access
0 depression angle
TIME echo delay time, range time (fast time)
time pulse-to-pulse time (slow time)
tr trace of a square matrix
truAM true array manifold
Ts spatial transform matrix
TSI terrain scattered interference
Tx transmit

UAV unmanned air vehicle

UESA U H F electronically scanned array
UL uplink
ULA uniform linear array
UMTS universal mobile telecommunications system

vc radial clutter velocity

Vp platform velocity (x-direction)
f ra d radial target velocity
VSAR velocity SAR
vt target velocity
i>tan tangential target velocity

WAVES weighted average of signal subspaces

WNSF weighted noise subspace fitting
WSF weighted subspace fitting
WVD Wigner-Ville distribution

x vector of received echoes

xp spectral vector of received echoes
Xt jc-coordinate of /-th sensor
Xx transformed vector of received echoes
y output signal
yc correction pattern
yi y-coordinate of i-th sensor

ZF zero forcing
H z-coordinate of/-th sensor
ZO zero offset
* conjugate complex or conjugate complex transpose
* convolution
0 Kronecker product
O zero vector
 List of Contributors

Yuri I. Abramovich Russell D. Brown

CSSIP, SPRI Building, Technology Park Department of Electrical and Computer
Adelaide, Mawson Lakes, Engineering, Syracuse University,
South Australia 5095 Syracuse, New York 13244-1240, USA

Stuart J. Anderson Jeffrey T. Carlo

CSSIP, SPRI Building, Technology Park AFRL/SNRD, 26 Electronic Parkway,
Adelaide, Mawson Lakes, Rome, New York 13441-4514, USA.
South Australia 5095 e-mail: [email protected]

Pei-Jung Chung
Stephan Benen Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Fakultat Fiir
ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH, Elektrotechnik, 44780 Bochum
Sebaldsbriicker Heerstr. 235, D-28305
Bremen, Germany Fabiola Colone
Dept. INFOCOM, University of Rome
Steffen Bergler 'La Sapienza', Via Eudossiana 18,
Geophysical Institute, University of 00184 Rome, Italy.
Karlsruhe, Hertzstr. 16, 76187 Tel: +39-06-44585472;
Karlsruhe, Germany Fax: +39-06-4873300

Eric Duveneck
R. S. Blum Geophysical Institute, University of
ECE Department, Lehigh University, Karlsruhe, Hertzstr. 16, 76187
19 Memorial Drive West, Bethlehem, Karlsruhe, Germany
PA 18015-3084, USA. Tel: (610)
758-3459; Fax: (610) 758-6279; Alfonso Farina
e-mail: [email protected]. AMS (Alenia Marconi Systems)
Chief Technical Office
Johann F. Bohme Scientific Director, Via Tiburtina km.
Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Fakultat Fiir 12.400, 00131 Rome, Italy.
Elektrotechnik, 44780 Bochum Tel: +39-6-41502279;
Fax: +39-6-4150-2665; Yung P. Lee
e-mail: [email protected] Science Applications International
Corporation, 1710 SAIC Drive,
McLean, VA 22102, USA.
Christoph H. Gierull
Tel: 703-676-6512; Fax: 703-893-8753;
Defence R&D Canada, Ottawa
e-mail: [email protected]
(DRDC-O), 3701 Carling Ave., Ottawa,
ON, Canada, KlA 0Z4. e-mail:
[email protected] Chuck Livingstone
Defence R&D Canada, Ottawa
(DRDC-O), 3701 Carling Ave., Ottawa,
Dhananjay Gore ON, Canada, KlA 0Z4
Qualcomm Inc., 9940 Barnes Canyon
Road, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
e-mail: [email protected] Pierfrancesco Lombardo
Dept. INFOCOM, University of Rome
4
La Sapienza', Via Eudossiana 18,
Alexei Y. Gorokhov 00184 Rome, Italy.
CSSIP, SPRI Building, Technology Park Tel: +39-06-44585472;
Adelaide, Mawson Lakes, Fax: +39-06-4873300; e-mail:
South Australia 5095 [email protected] .it,
[email protected] .it
Peter Hubral
Geophysical Institute, University of Dirk Maiwald
Karlsruhe, Hertzstr. 16, 76187 ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH,
Karlsruhe, Germany Sebaldsbrucker Heerstr. 235, D-28305
Bremen, Germany
Richard Klemm
FGAN-FHR, Neuenahrer Str. 20, Jiirgen Mann
D 53343 Wachtberg, Germany. Geophysical Institute, University of
Tel: ++49 228 9435 377; Karlsruhe, Hertzstr. 16, 76187
Fax:++49 228 348 618; Karlsruhe, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
K. F. McDonald
Wolfgang Koch MITRE Corporation, 202 Burlington
FGAN-FKIE, Neuenahrer Strasse 20, Road, Bedford, MA 01730-1420, USA.
D 53343 Wachtberg, Germany. Tel: (781) 271-7739;
Tel: +49-(0)228/9435-529; Fax: -685; Fax:(781)271-7045;
e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]

Stephen M. Kogon William L. Melvin

MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 244 Wood Georgia Institute of Technology,
Street, Lexington, MA 02420-9108, Georgia Tech Research Institute
USA (GTRI), Atlanta, GA, USA
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 VI
BASHFULNESS AND INDECISION

D OCTOR W. BECHTEREW, a distinguished Russian physician, was

one day visited by a man of extraordinary appearance. Cheap
and shabby clothing fitted the visitor's gaunt frame badly; his
gait was shuffling; his whole form and manner testified pathetically
to an overwhelming burden of poverty, anxiety, and dread. But what
was most remarkable about him was a pair of enormous black
spectacles, giving a horribly grotesque aspect to his pallid, bearded
face. It was with difficulty that Doctor Bechterew concealed the
astonishment he felt and courteously inquired what he could do for
his strange visitor.
"I have come," was the hesitating, almost stammering, reply, "in the
hope that you can cure me of my bashfulness."
"Your bashfulness?" repeated the physician, with a quizzical, but
kindly, smile. "Is that all that troubles you?"
"It is enough," answered the other, vehemently. "Doctor, it has made
life a hell for me."
"And for how long have you been bashful?"
"Virtually since childhood. I can positively place its beginnings in my
schooldays." His words now flowed swiftly, torrentially. "Long before
I left school I noticed that I felt awkward and uneasy when anybody
looked directly at me. I found myself blushing, stammering, turning
away, unable to look people in the eye.
"After I left school and went to work, matters became much worse.
In business I had to meet strangers all the time, and in the presence
of strangers I felt absolutely helpless. My bashfulness increased to
such an extent that I began to invent excuses to stay away from my
work, and to remain at home in a miserable solitude. But this did not
do; I had to earn my living. In desperation, I hit on the idea of
wearing these black spectacles."
"So that people cannot see your eyes?"
"Exactly. They have helped me wonderfully; intrenched behind them,
I feel comparatively safe. But I detest them, and I long to be like
other men. Is there no cure for me?"
Bizarre, startlingly unique as this must seem, it, after all, differs only
in the single detail of the spectacles from hundreds of other cases
which might be cited. All over the world are men and women who
suffer agonies from an oppressive, and to them inexplicable, sense
of timidity when brought into contact with other people. Many, to be
sure, make a brave effort to conceal the true state of affairs,
compelling themselves to mingle more or less freely in society,
despite the torturing apprehensions they then feel. Others of less
stubborn mould either seclude themselves or deliberately choose
careers that leave them much in solitude. Sometimes, for that
matter, the choosing of such careers is an affair not of choice, but of
necessity. A man of thirty-four confided to his physician, Doctor Paul
Hartenberg:
"I began life as an assistant to my father in the wholesale liquor
business, my work being such that I did not realise my extreme
bashfulness. But it was made very clear to me when, owing to my
father's failure, I was obliged to seek employment elsewhere.
"I applied for and was given the position of manager in a large café.
It was part of my duty to keep order among the employees, and, to
my dismay, I found that I was not equal to this. Whenever I had to
exert my authority I was strangely embarrassed; I stammered,
trembled, and, worst of all, blushed like a girl. The employees, as
you may imagine, were not long in perceiving how timid and bashful
I was, and affairs rapidly came to such a pass that the owner of the
café angrily dismissed me.
"I then became a clerk in a department store. But, alas! my
deplorable bashfulness was again my undoing. If a customer looked
at me when asking a question or giving an order, I blushed, became
so embarrassed that I had to turn away, and, in my confusion, paid
no attention to what the customer was saying. If the latter repeated
his words I became more disturbed than ever, trembled, perspired,
and acted so queerly that people thought I was drunk.
"Again I was dismissed, and again I found employment, this time in
a smaller store. The result was the same. Thus I passed from
position to position, always descending in the social scale. What do
you suppose I am doing at present? I am washing dishes in the
cellar of a restaurant. It is not pleasant work, but it at least shelters
me from the terrible gaze of strangers."
This, fortunately, is an exceptional case. Yet it is certain that many a
man is to-day holding a position far below that for which he really
has ability, simply because he is too bashful to assert himself,
dreading not so much the increased responsibilities of more
remunerative work as the fact that it will bring him more
conspicuously and intimately into the view of other people. He feels
in his soul, poor fellow, that the result will be to plunge him into
unendurable confusion. It is an ordeal too great for him to face, and
he clings desperately to the inferior position, which, from his
distorted point of view, has the merit of allowing him to go through
life unnoticed and, consequently, untroubled.
What, then, is this bashfulness which exerts so widespread and
baneful an influence? Whence does it take its rise? And how is its
victim to go about the task of overcoming it? These are questions of
vital significance, particularly in this age of complex civilisation and
strenuous competition, in which the bashful man is at a tremendous
disadvantage. Happily, he appreciates this, and resorts with
increasing frequency to the physician's office in quest of advice and
aid. As a result, far more is known about bashfulness to-day than
was ever the case before, albeit in its most important aspects as yet
known only to a comparatively small number of psychologically
trained physicians.
These physicians recognise that there are two distinct types of
bashfulness, the one chronic, the other occasional, both of which
represent an abnormal exaggeration of the shyness which is a
normal characteristic of nearly every child, and which manifests itself
in blushing, fidgeting, hiding the face, etc. Ordinarily, this organic
shyness, as the psychologist Baldwin has termed it, disappears
between the fifth and seventh year. But it may recur under special
conditions, and it is specially likely to recur, as almost everybody
knows from experience, under conditions focusing public attention
on the person. Under such conditions—being called on unexpectedly
to speak in public, taking part for the first time in theatrical
performances, and so forth—bashfulness of the occasional type is
very much in evidence, its symptoms ranging from tremor,
palpitation, and vasomotor disturbances to the paralysis of "stage
fright." Neither psychologically nor medically is this type of
bashfulness of much importance. As the novelty of the conditions
giving rise to it wears off—when, for example, one has become
accustomed to public speaking—it usually disappears. Like the
organic shyness of childhood, it is merely a product of inexperience,
an expression of an instinctive reaction that is possibly "a far-off
echo from the dim past, when fear of the unknown was a safeguard
in the struggle for existence."
Altogether different is the case with those who are habitually
bashful, of whom the world holds many thousands. Here, obviously,
some factor or factors other than inexperience must enter to cause
the chronic timidity which has the special quality of afflicting its
victim only when in the presence of other human beings. This,
indeed, is the distinguishing characteristic of bashfulness, as was
pointed out long ago by Charles Darwin, in his statement that
bashfulness seems to depend on "sensitiveness to the opinion,
whether good or bad, of others." Darwin also held—and his view still
is the prevailing one—that the sensitiveness of the habitually bashful
man relates mostly to external appearances. That is to say, he is
bashful because he knows he is awkward, because he is dressed out
of style or not in keeping with the special occasion, or because he
suffers from some real or fancied bodily defect. To the objection that
there are plenty of awkward, badly dressed, and physically deformed
men and women who are not at all bashful, the advocates of this
theory fall back on heredity as the ultimate determining factor,
insisting that it is an inborn weakness which makes the bashful man
or woman supersensitive to the opinion of others regarding his or
her personal appearance and demeanour.
Now, recent research seems to leave no doubt that heredity does
operate to some extent in the causation of bashfulness, since most
bashful persons—at any rate, among those who come under the
care of physicians—have a strain of the neurotic in their family
histories. On the other hand, it has been quite as positively
established that the matter of external appearances has a causal
relation to bashfulness in comparatively few cases, though it may act
as an aggravating element. In case after case the first
manifestations of true chronic bashfulness have been traced to a
period in life far antedating any anxiety on the person's part
respecting the way he walks or dresses or looks. More than this,
when the bashful themselves are questioned as to the causes of
their bashfulness, they usually either profess entire ignorance, or
emphasise mental, rather than physical, factors.
"I attribute my bashfulness to no physical cause," is a characteristic
response. "I attribute it to a certain weakness of mind, to my lack of
self-confidence, to fear of ridicule, and especially to a nervous
excitement which I feel whenever others look at me."
Of course, apart from the doubt which such a response casts on the
external appearances theory of bashfulness, and its emphasis on the
mental, as opposed to the physical, factor, it really throws scarcely
any light on the question of causation. Just as there are many
awkward, badly dressed, and deformed people who are not bashful,
so there are many modest and sensitive ones who go through life in
wholly normal fashion, perhaps untroubled even by bashfulness of
the occasional type. Quite evidently there still is an underlying
something which has to be taken into account before one can fully
understand chronic bashfulness.
That something the modern medical psychologist is beginning to
believe he has discovered through proceeding on the assumption
that bashfulness is far more than a mere innate weakness or
character defect; that it is, in reality, a functional nervous trouble,
differing only in degree, not in kind, from hysteria and other
psychoneuroses. That is to say, the medical psychologist assumes
that, as is now believed to be the case in every psychoneurosis, the
bashful man is the victim of subconscious memories of distressing
incidents in his early life; incidents which, in his case, have had the
effect of arousing in an exaggerated degree sentiments of shame or
fear.
The supersensitive child, having seen or heard something that
profoundly shocks him, or having committed some petty or really
serious fault, feels, on the one hand, that he has a shameful secret
he must guard carefully, and, on the other hand, fears that people
can read his secret in his eyes. Hence, he develops feelings of
awkwardness and embarrassment when others look at and speak to
him. He fidgets, blushes, stammers, trembles; in a word, displays all
the symptoms indicated by the term bashfulness. In the course of
time one of two things will happen: either increased knowledge will
reassure him, and he will, as the saying is, outgrow his bashfulness;
or the hidden fear and shame—even though the original occasion for
them may have completely lapsed from conscious remembrance—
will fix themselves firmly in his mind, causing a habit of bashfulness
which may torture him all his life.
Whether this new theory as to bashfulness of the chronic type holds
good invariably, it is as yet impossible to say. Certainly, it has been
verified in an astonishingly large number of cases. Time and again,
applying some one of the delicate methods by which they tunnel into
the most obscure recesses of the mind, medical psychologists have
dragged into the full light of conscious recollection forgotten
memories which the victims of bashfulness themselves recognise as
connected with the onset of their abnormal timidity. Often their
bashfulness completely disappears, or is markedly abated, as soon
as the memories responsible for it are recovered. Or, when an
immediate cure is not wrought, one is pretty sure to result after an
explanation of the evolution of the trouble and the application of
appropriate suggestions to develop self-confidence and will power.
To illustrate by citing a few instances from life, let me give first the
case of a young New England man, who, as usually happens, did not
resort to a physician until his bashfulness had begun to interfere
with his earning a livelihood.
"I have not the slightest idea what is the matter with me," he told
the neurologist whom he consulted, "but the fact is that for a good
many years I have felt strangely timid when meeting people. I
believe I am naturally of a courageous disposition—certainly I do not
suffer from cowardice in the ordinary sense—but I actually blush and
tremble if spoken to suddenly or looked at intently. Lately I notice
this has been growing worse."
"Can you tell me," the physician asked, "just when you first noticed
that you were bashful?"
"No, I am sorry to say I can't. I only know that it began while I was
a boy."
Nevertheless, by the aid of a method of psychoanalysis, or
psychological mind-tunnelling, it was ascertained that,
subconsciously, he did know exactly when his bashfulness began,
and also was well aware of its cause. From among the forgotten, or
only vaguely remembered, episodes of his boyhood there emerged,
with exceptional vividness, a memory-picture of the time when he
first went to work. He recalled with painful intensity the figure of his
employer, a stern, cold, hard man, with piercing eyes.
"Those eyes seemed to be on me everywhere I went. They seemed
to be watching for the least mistake I might make. I began to
wonder what would happen to me if I did make mistakes. Then I
began to feel incompetent and to fear that he would notice my
incompetency. I grew nervous, awkward, timid. Whenever he spoke
to me, I jumped, I blushed, I trembled. After a time I did the same
when anybody spoke to me."
"And sometimes you still think of that first employer who frightened
you so much?"
"I try not to, but I know I do."
To the neurologist the cause of his patient's bashfulness was now
evident. The fear, the anxiety, the over-conscientiousness
engendered by the employer's attitude, working in the mind of an
ultra-impressionable boy, were quite enough to initiate a habit of
abnormal diffidence. Tactfully, the physician made this clear to the
patient; earnestly he impressed on him the idea that the unpleasant
experience of which he spoke was a thing of the past, and was
nothing of which he now need stand in dread; and tirelessly he
reiterated the suggestion that the patient had it in his own power to
exorcise the demon of bashfulness created by the painful
subconscious memory-image of those early days. In the end he had
the satisfaction of sending him on his way rejoicing in a perfect cure.
Strikingly different in its inception is a case that came under the
observation of Doctor Bechterew. In this instance the patient was a
young woman of excellent family and most attractive appearance.
The symptom of which she chiefly complained was an abnormal
blushing. When with the members of her own family, no less than
with strangers, she would, at the least provocation, feel the blood
suffusing her face and would turn distressingly red. To avoid this,
she kept much to herself, and led a lonely, miserable life.
Questioned by Doctor Bechterew as to the length of time she had
been thus afflicted, and any prior occurrences which might have
given her a real and urgent reason for embarrassment and blushing,
her answers at first were wholly unenlightening. But little by little,
probing with the skill of the trained psychological cross-examiner, he
drew from her the details of a pathetic experience.
At the age of seventeen, it appeared, she had been thrown much
into the company of a married man old enough to be her father. A
friendship had sprung up between them, but, on her part, there had
certainly been no thought of anything beyond friendship, until one
evening at a garden party he asked her to walk with him in a
secluded part of the grounds.
"While we were talking together," she confided to Doctor Bechterew,
"he suddenly asked me if I cared for him—if I cared enough to leave
home and spend the rest of my life with him. His avowal of love
shocked and shamed me. I hastily left him and, with burning cheeks,
rejoined the other guests.
"As soon as possible, I made my excuses and went home. It seemed
to me that my face betrayed my secret. Afterwards I could not speak
to or even think of that man without blushing. Now that you have
made me recall the circumstance, I feel sure that out of that terrible
experience has gradually been developed the habit of bashfulness
and blushing which has made life almost unbearable to me."
Contrast with this a third case: the case of a young Jew, robust and
alert-looking, a wagon driver by occupation, who applied to the
Vanderbilt Clinic in New York City to be treated for what he vaguely
termed a "nervous trouble." Referred to Doctor A. A. Brill, already
mentioned as a specialist in nervous disorders, he confessed that the
malady for which he sought relief was nothing more or less than
bashfulness.
"It may seem strange to you," said he, "that a fellow like me should
be bashful, but I am so timid when with strangers that I scarcely
know what I am doing. I speak and act like a fool; my hands
tremble; I trip over things."
"Can you give any reason why you should feel so awkward and
embarrassed?"
"Not the slightest. I often have tried to explain it to myself, but all to
no purpose. As far as I can tell, it is without a cause."
"Still, it must have a cause, and we will do our best to discover what
that is."
Step by step, in the course of several days' investigation by
psychoanalysis, Doctor Brill led the patient through the details of his
past life. In this way it was definitely ascertained that the
bashfulness of which he complained dated from his twelfth year.
Delving among the forgotten memories of that early period, Doctor
Brill presently unearthed one which the patient, the moment he
recalled it, recognised as being coincidental with the beginning of
the excessive timidity that had brought him such suffering.
It was the memory of a boyhood escapade that had at the time
caused unusual remorse, shame, and fear of discovery. He had
fancied that others could read in his eyes what he had done; he
became afraid to look at people or to have them look at him.
Awkwardness, embarrassment, bashfulness grew apace, and
remained characteristic of him even after he had forgotten all about
the affair from which they sprang.
Thanks, however, to the recovery of this lost memory-image, and of
other subconscious reminiscences which had intensified the feeling
of shame, it was now possible for Doctor Brill to institute
psychotherapeutic treatment that eventually resulted in a cure.
Incidentally, it also resulted in materially improving the young man's
position in life. Freed from his bashfulness, he developed unexpected
ambition, and eventually became the owner of a well-paying
business.
Similarly, boyhood weaknesses and failings, carrying with them
profound feelings of shame and apprehension, were found
responsible for the bashfulness experienced by Doctor Hartenberg's
dish-washing patient and Doctor Bechterew's visitor with the black
spectacles.
Always, in truth, the story seems to be the same: there has been in
the chronically bashful man's early life some specific shock, fright, or
anxiety, which, provoking in a supersensitive mind feelings of
extreme embarrassment, has established a bashfulness that may not
fully yield to any method of treatment until the remote and usually
forgotten cause is recalled to remembrance.
Happily, this requirement is not always necessary. As an eminent
medical psychologist once said to me:
"It is my experience that, in many cases, a cure can be brought
about simply by developing the patient's will power, either through
suggestion in hypnosis, or through psychic re-education in the
normal waking state. In such instances, it is enough to explain to the
patient that his bashfulness undoubtedly had its origin in some
shock which he has forgotten; that while, in the beginning, he may
have had reason enough for feeling bashful, that reason has long
since been outlived; and that his present bashfulness is actually
nothing more than a bad habit, the result of self-suggestion.
"Attacking the problem this way and applying strong counter-
suggestion, it frequently is possible to effect a cure without a tedious
preliminary ransacking of subconscious memories. When, however,
this method fails, psychoanalytic investigation becomes
indispensable."
Manifestly of even greater importance than the cure of bashfulness
is its prevention. This, on any theory of its causation, and especially
on the view here advanced, is primarily a matter resting with
parents. The appearance in a growing boy or girl of symptoms of
habitual uneasiness and embarrassment when with other children or
older persons should be regarded as a reason for real anxiety.
Actually, however, as in the case of children who show extreme or
persistent jealousy, most parents are inclined to dismiss such
symptoms from their minds with the careless remark, "Yes, he's
bashful; but that's nothing. He'll outgrow it." Unfortunately, he may
not outgrow it without definite aid and guidance.
For one thing, the effort should immediately be made to develop in
him interests, whether scholastic or athletic—preferably both—that
will take him out of himself. Whatever else may be said of
bashfulness, it is always, like selfishness, a sign of excessive
preoccupation, conscious or unconscious, with thoughts of self. The
bashful boy, no less than the bashful man, is abnormally self-
centred. And, besides endeavouring to weaken his extreme egoism,
there should be a systematic attempt to cultivate self-control and
self-reliance; while, at the same time, his confidence should be
tactfully sought, to draw from him a statement as to anything that is
particularly perplexing or worrying him, and thereby to gain a
vantage point for effectually banishing doubt and anxiety from his
mind.
To banish doubt and anxiety from his mind! I am put in
remembrance of another serious life handicap, allied to bashfulness
in having as a basic element lack of self-reliance and self-confidence,
and, like bashfulness, originating in childhood experiences. This
handicap is the habit of futile doubting and reasoning, whether
about matters of importance or matters of no importance. In some
people the habit of futile doubting is so extreme as to amount to a
veritable disease. Again, let me make use of an instance from real
life to bring out concretely the condition I have in mind.
To a neurologist in the city of Washington there came a man thirty
years of age. There was nothing in his appearance to set him apart
from other people. He was intelligent-looking, well dressed, well
mannered, and he did not seem at all out of health. But this, in
effect, is what he said to the neurologist:
"Doctor, I have come to you as a last resort, and if you cannot help
me I do not know what I shall do. I am mentally all in pieces. My
mind is so weak that I cannot even decide what clothes I ought to
put on.
"My indecision shows itself the moment I awake in the morning. I
start to get up; then it occurs to me that perhaps I ought not to get
up immediately. So I lie down again, wondering just what I ought to
do. I am beset by doubts. Not until somebody enters my room and
insists on my rising can I bring myself to do so.
"At once a terrible conflict begins within me as to the clothes I
should wear. Every article of my clothing has to be carefully
considered. It is as if a vital problem had to be solved. Sometimes,
after I am dressed, the thought strikes me that my underwear may
be too light, or too heavy, or that something else is the matter with
it.
"Then I have to undress and put on fresh underwear, which I
minutely inspect. Or, perhaps, it is my shirt that troubles me, or the
pattern of my neck-tie, or the suit I have put on.
"Always I fear that I have made a mistake in some way. Dressing
consequently becomes an endless process to me. Even with help—
and I nearly always have to be helped—it is two or three hours
before I am finally dressed."
Consider also the case of a morbid doubter who was successfully
treated by that well-known New England medical psychologist,
Doctor Boris Sidis. In this case, doubting was only one of several
disease symptoms. Here, somewhat abridged, is Doctor Sidis's own
account of his patient's indulgence in trivial doubts:
"The patient is troubled by a form of folie de doute. He is not sure
that the addresses on his letters are correctly written; and, no
matter how many times he may read them over, he cannot feel
assured that the addresses are correct. Some one else must read
them and assure him that they are addressed correctly.
"When he has to write many letters, sometimes a sudden fear gets
possession of him that he has interchanged the letters and put them
into the wrong envelopes. He has then to tear open the envelopes
and look the letters over again and again, to assure himself that
they have been put by him into the right envelopes.
"Similarly, in turning out the gas jet, he must needs try it over again
and again, and is often forced to get up from bed to try again
whether the gas is 'really' shut off. He lights the gas, then tests the
gas jet with a lighted match, to see whether the gas leaks and is
'really' completely shut off.
"In closing the door of his room, he must try the lock over and over
again. He locks the door, and then unlocks it again, then locks it
once more. Still, he is not sure. He then must shake it violently, so
as to get the full assurance that the door has been actually and
'really' locked."[11]
This second illustrative instance brings out vividly a fact that
deserves to be emphasised—the fact, namely, that, at bottom, these
doubting manias are only exaggerations of a phenomenon of
common occurrence. There are times when virtually everybody is
tormented by doubts regarding matters that ought not to cause any
indecision or perplexity. Moreover, while comparatively few people
feel the need of going to a physician to be cured of abnormal
doubting, there are many others who might advantageously seek the
specialist's aid. People are often blind to their great weakness in this
respect, though their friends may see clearly that their vacillation
with regard to things great or small constitutes a defect that of itself
accounts amply for their inability to make headway in the world and
rise above mediocrity.
Like the Washington neurologist's patient, if in less degree, there are
people to whom the choice of clothing presents a prodigious
problem. To others, the choice of foods is a never-ending puzzle. At
every meal they find themselves sadly at a loss to decide what they
shall eat. Others, again, acting in much the fashion of the young
man treated by Doctor Sidis, conjure up visions of possible mistakes
and mishaps in connection with the writing and mailing of letters,
the opening or shutting of doors and windows, the carrying of
umbrellas, etc. Also, there are doubters of a kind well described by
an observant physician:
"There are people who doubt whether their friends really think
anything of them. They think that, though they treat them
courteously, this may be only common politeness, and that they may
really resent their wasting their time when they call on them. They
hesitate to ask these people to do things for them, though, over and
over again, the friends may have shown their willingness, and,
above all, by asking favours of them in turn, may have shown that
they were quite willing to put themselves under obligations.
"They doubt about their charities. They wonder whether they may
really not be doing more harm than good, though they have
investigated the cases, or have had them investigated, and the
objects of their charity may have been proved to be quite deserving.
They hesitate about the acquisition of new friends, and doubt
whether they should give them any confidence, and whether the
confidences they have received from them are not really baits."[12]
Here, decidedly, we have a state of affairs not only breeding
unhappiness, but involving a vast waste of nervous energy. This it is
that chiefly makes the yielding to trivial doubts a menace to human
welfare. To conserve energy for useful purposes, we are so
constituted that ordinarily the little acts of everyday life—our rising,
dressing, eating, attending to household or business details of a
routine character—are done by us automatically. We take it for
granted that we do them correctly, and, usually, we so do them. If
now and then we make a mistake, we think little about it. Rightly,
we regard it as of no account, compared with matters of more
importance. Thus we conserve our energy for our life work. Whereas
the doubter about trivialities fritters his energy away.
And, now, taking up the question of the causation of this costly habit
of doubting about trivialities, let us turn once more to the cases of
the two morbid doubters who consulted the Washington and Boston
specialists.
In both of these cases, psychological analysis was undertaken to
ascertain the causes of the exaggerated tendency to doubt. In both
it was found that the patients had been subjected in childhood to
conditions almost inevitably productive of a profound distrust of self.
This was particularly true in the Washington case. The patient in this
case was the only son of parents whose love had led them to be
over-solicitous about him. When he was a little fellow they could not
bear to have him out of their sight, lest something should happen to
him. They had anticipated his wishes, done for him things that he
might very well have done for himself; and, when he did attempt to
do things for himself, they intervened to help him.
The result was an enfeebling of his consciousness and of his will.
The man grew up without initiative. People had always done things
for him, had always decided things for him. How could any one
expect him to decide anything for himself? It was not that he was
naturally weak-minded, weak-willed; it was that his training had
engendered in him conditions making for mental confusion and
instability of purpose.
Such was the outcome of the neurologist's psychological study of his
case. It held the possibilities of a cure, through psychic re-education,
having as its starting point the emancipation of this child of thirty
from slavish dependence on his parents. And, in the end, after
nearly two years of patient effort, a cure was actually effected.
In the second case, distrust of self had been produced in quite
another way. This patient's parents had not spoiled him by over-
attention. On the opposite, they had not given enough thought to
the importance of developing in him emotional control, the need for
which was particularly indicated in his early childhood by great
dreaminess and sensitiveness of disposition. His special need for
training in the control of his emotions was further evinced by the
violence of his reactions to happenings of a disturbing nature. Once,
for instance, when he unexpectedly met a deformed, paralysed man,
he fell to the ground in a faint.
This should have been sufficient warning to his parents that they
must make every effort to stiffen his character and to protect him
from needless shocks. As a matter of fact, they exposed him to
conditions that would have been harmful to any child. During his
early years he was thrown much into the company of an old
grandfather afflicted with sundry physical and mental ailments,
among them the doubting mania in an extreme form. Also, he was
allowed to witness the death agonies of several relatives.
All this was bound to leave a lasting imprint on his mind and his
nervous system, filling him with vague fears, both as to life in
general and, in particular, as to his own ability to live successfully. It
was impossible for him to escape the knowledge that he did not
endure the difficult and the unpleasant as well as other children did.
And, with this knowledge, distrust of self, a sense of inferiority, took
firm hold of him.
Nevertheless, he contrived to get along passably until he entered
college. He was nervous and a little "queer," but not markedly so.
When, however, ever, he found it necessary to study unusually hard
for some examinations, a breakdown came. Various disease
symptoms, physical and mental, developed in him, including the
habit of perpetually fretting and doubting about things of small
significance. In his case, that is to say, faulty training in childhood
had laid the foundation for a serious psychic weakness, to the full
development of which a physical condition—fatigue—had acted as
the immediate cause.
In most cases of morbid doubting that have been psychologically
analysed, parental mistakes have similarly become apparent. There
may be—there usually is—a constitutional tendency to nervous
troubles. But the parents have not appreciated this. Or, if they have
appreciated it, they have failed to offset it by education especially
designed to strengthen the will and inspire self-confidence, and by
measures having as their end a sound physical upbuilding. Also, they
have failed—and this is of the utmost importance—to externalise the
personal interests, so that self-consciousness shall be at a minimum.
This does not mean, however, that the unfavourable results of the
parental mistakes cannot be remedied later in life. There is reason to
believe that, even in most extreme cases of morbid doubting—
except the comparatively few cases where organic brain disease is
responsible for the doubting—it is possible to effect a cure. As has
been said, both of these patients were cured, and their cases may
be regarded as fairly typical of this variety of mental affliction at its
worst. Accordingly, when the tendency to trivial doubts is less
marked, there is the possibility not only of cure, but of self-cure,
provided that the doubter recognises exactly wherein he is deficient.
Self-consciousness, timidity, distrust of self, a conscious or
subconscious feeling of inferiority, and often a lack of physical vigour
—these are the elements that chiefly contribute to the growth of a
tendency to anxiety and indecision about trivial things; these are the
weaknesses that specially need to be overcome. As a preliminary
measure, the doubter should make it a rule to take exercise daily in
the open air, and to see to it that his living and sleeping quarters are
kept well ventilated.
Indecision, even in the most energetic of men, is frequently a
resultant of deprivation of fresh air. To reach decisions, to settle
doubts quickly, a well-nourished brain is indispensable. And no brain
can be well nourished unless the blood flowing to it is amply
supplied with oxygen. Of all persons, therefore, the habitual doubter
is in need of plenty of fresh air and of physical exercise to build up
his organism as a whole and increase his powers of resistance to
fatigue. For the same reason, he needs an abundance of good food.
Physical upbuilding, moreover, will have the desirable effect of
increasing his power of concentrating attention on some serious life
interest. This, above everything else, is what the doubter needs to
do. He must develop an ardent interest in something worth while—
his work, a useful hobby, occupation of some sort. The trivial
doubter—the doubter of any kind—is pre-eminently a man or woman
devoid of a keen life interest. If a life interest were present, there
would be neither time nor inclination to dissipate energy in useless
doubting. If you, my reader, recognise in yourself one of the
doubting kind, you will appreciate the truth of this. You will admit
that you have little enthusiasm for your work, little interest in
anything that would keep you from being too occupied with thoughts
of self.
Developing such an interest, self-consciousness will diminish, self-
confidence will grow. Gradually, less and less attention will be paid to
the petty details of daily existence that formerly gave so much
concern. They will be pushed more and more into the background of
the mind, will be managed automatically, as it was intended they
should be managed. No longer will your indecision be a source of
pitying, perhaps amused, comment by your friends. Instead, they
will have occasion to comment, with pleased surprise, on the vigour
and promptness of decision in all things that has taken the place of
the old indecision.
One word more:
Exactly as hygienic measures are helpful in the cure of indecision in
adults, so are they helpful to prevent the development of indecision
—and bashfulness—in children. Parents will do well to bear this in
mind. But, as in the prevention of selfishness, jealousy, and so forth,
reliance on hygienic measures alone is not enough. It is all very well
to see that children get plenty of good food, abundant muscular
exercise, and much life in the open air. This is excellent and
necessary. Also, however, they must be given wise moral training—
training that will make it habitual for them to think and act
vigourously, to keep their emotions well in hand, to be interested in
much besides themselves, and to develop the feeling of self-
confidence and the spirit of initiative.
Now, let us turn to still another preventable and serious life handicap
having its origin in the days of childhood—the handicap of
stammering.
STAMMERING
 VII
STAMMERING

T HERE lies convenient to my hand at this moment a thin,

pamphlet-like volume that tells the story of one of the strangest,
among the many singular and tragic blunders which medical
science has made in its progress to knowledge. It is a translation
from the German of Doctor J. F. Dieffenbach's "Memoir on the
Radical Cure of Stuttering." Assuredly, Dieffenbach's "cure" was
radical enough, for it consisted in nothing less than the excision of a
large, wedge-shaped section from the stammerer's tongue! In this
little book, published in 1841, and embellished with several ghastly
full-page engravings, is described, with great professional gusto, the
first of these terrible operations as performed, without the merciful
aid of any anesthetic, on an unhappy boy of thirteen. The result was
a "complete success." Says Dieffenbach, writing a few weeks after
the operation:
"At the present time not the slightest trace of stuttering remains, not
the slightest vibration of the muscles of the face, not the most
inconsiderable play of the lips. His speech is, throughout, well toned,
even, and flowing."
Thus was inaugurated a period of butchery that lasted until—almost
before the year was out—it was observed that those "cured" by this
sanguinary means usually began, before long, to stammer as badly
as ever, and also that those who were not "cured" had a tendency to
die. Yet Dieffenbach was no charlatan, no "quack." He was a
reputable surgeon who honestly believed that he had discovered the
true remedy for stammering. And, if the passage of time has
intensified the tragedy and absurdity of his method and has
relegated his glowing account of it to a place in the literature of
medical curiosities, there is this to be said of him—that he has had
plenty of successors who have erred almost as seriously in their
attempts to solve the problem presented by the widespread and
baffling malady of stammering.
In fact, up to within quite recent times the record of the struggle
against stammering has been one of continuous failure. There has
been a steady accumulation of methods of treatment, from surgical
operations of a less drastic type than Dieffenbach's to the use of
various articulatory and respiratory exercises and devices, without
any appreciable effect in the diminution of stammering. Even to-day
the great majority of physicians and lay specialists—to whom, by a
sort of tacit agreement, the medical profession has largely
relinquished the task of dealing with stammering—labour to next to
no purpose. At this very moment there are in the United States at
least three hundred thousand persons who stammer, fully half of
whom stammer so badly that they are severely handicapped in the
gaining of a livelihood. Thousands of these have resorted to medical
advice, or have attended so-called schools for stammerers, with
lastingly beneficial results to few. Small wonder that there is, among
stammerers and their friends, a tendency to believe that stammering
is one of the hopelessly incurable maladies of mankind.
And this would undeniably appear to be true, as regards many
stammerers. On the other hand, it may confidently be said that
nearly all cases of stammering are actually susceptible of marked
improvement, often amounting to 75 or 90 per cent. of a cure; and
that a number of cases can be completely cured. Such a statement,
to be sure, could not have been safely made even a few years ago.
This for the reason that only lately has there been any really
systematic effort by scientifically trained investigators to study the
phenomena of stammering, with a view to ascertaining, with
scientific exactness, its true nature and causation.
Stammering, it has long been recognised, is not a malady of uniform
symptomatology, like tuberculosis or typhoid fever. No two
stammerers stammer precisely alike. They stumble over different
letters and sounds; time, place, and circumstances have varying
effects on the degree of their stammering; and the physical spasms
and contortions that so often accompany this trouble differ in
different stammerers. There is, too, a great variation in the onset of
stammering. Mostly, it is true, it manifests itself in childhood, from
the age of four to eleven. But it may not set in until much later in
life; and, when it does begin in childhood, it begins under much
diversity of conditions.
Sometimes a child stammers almost as soon as he has learned to
speak, though seldom, if ever, coincident with the learning. Often,
the first appearance of stammering follows some disease like
measles or diphtheria. Or, again, a child who has been speaking
quite well, suddenly begins to stammer, and persists in stammering,
after being brought into contact with people who are themselves
stammerers.
"I was entirely free of stammering," declares a clergyman, in a
typical statement, "till I was five years old. At that time of life there
was a gentleman who occasionally came to my father's house, and
stammered very badly. I distinctly remember one afternoon trying to
imitate him; when, unfortunately, he heard me, and was very
indignant. So ashamed were my parents at my conduct that, after
he had gone, I was taken to task and punished severely for it. Ever
since that night I have been afflicted with this most distressing
malady, in spite of all my efforts to overcome it."
Compare a statement by a Philadelphia physician, Doctor D. Braden
Kyle:
"Several years ago I saw three interesting cases of stammering. Two
of the cases were imitation. These two lads, who were associated
with a boy several years older, the worst stammerer I ever saw,
clearly imitated him. As they were constantly together, the imitation
was almost continuous. They certainly developed into expert
stammerers. In less than two years they were confirmed
stammerers, and it was impossible for them to speak at all without
stuttering and stammering."
Facts like these, I repeat, have long been observed and commented
on by specialists in the treatment of stammering; but they have, for
the most part, been dismissed as mere "oddities," while emphasis
has been laid on the single fact that, in the majority of cases,
stammerers have had parents or other relatives who themselves
stammered. "Heredity," consequently, has been assumed to be the
one and sufficient explanation of all stammering; and it has also
been assumed that what is inherited is either an anatomical or a
physiological defect. Hence, in too many instances, the use of the
surgeon's knife; and, hence, the invention of innumerable systems
designed to train the stammerer in the correct use of his breathing
and articulating organs—in a word, systems intended to teach him
how to talk.
But, as even the most enthusiastic exponents of these corrective
systems are now beginning to appreciate, whatever else the
stammerer may need, he does not need to be taught how to talk.
For he can talk well enough on occasion. Nothing is more significant,
from the standpoint of assisting to a clear understanding of the
nature of stammering, than the fact that there are uncommonly few
stammerers who have any difficulty in speaking when nobody is with
them. On this point, every stammerer with whom I have been in
touch is in remarkable agreement, and others who have had a far
wider acquaintance with stammerers testify to the same effect. For
example, Mr. Charles L. Rowan, of Milwaukee, a gentleman who has
stammered for years and has made a close study of the subject,
informs me:
"When I am alone—and the same is true of other stammerers—I
have no speech difficulty whatever, and can talk or read aloud for
hours with ease. It is only when I am with others that I halt and
stammer in my speech. Sometimes I talk in my sleep, and the folks
tell me I do not stammer then. But, if I am dreaming, and in the
dream imagine myself talking, it is always in a stammer.
"I have also noticed that most stammerers talk better when the
subject is light and frivolous than when it is something serious. And
they talk better when conversing with people whom they regard as
inferiors. I know a man who is a section foreman, and he says he
can give orders to his negro and Mexican labourers perfectly, but if
the roadmaster comes along he cannot talk to him at all."
And a stammerer from Spokane, Washington, informs me:
"I would like to say that there are periods when I can talk much
better than for corresponding periods. Indeed, there are times,
generally a few days at a time, when it is most difficult for me to talk
with even a slight degree of correctness; and, then, there are
periods of as long, or longer, duration when speech seems to flow
with more ease, though never perfect, except for a few words in
succession."
More than this, according to one diligent investigator, the majority of
stammerers fail to stammer if addressed in such a way that their
replies are made without their realising that they are talking. Says
this observer:
"Suppose a stammerer is engaged in a deep study and unaware of
your presence. You speak to him softly. He answers readily, without
hesitation, in an absent manner. Again, you ask a careless question,
implying by your manner that you do not expect or desire an
answer; to this he quickly and easily replies also. Now, look straight
at him and pointedly interrogate him. See, when it becomes
necessary for him to speak, how he is thrown into confusion."
It has further been found that most stammerers are at their worst
when in the presence of strangers. Some stammer scarcely at all
when at home with their relatives and intimate friends. On the
opposite, there are some who stammer worse than usual when with
relatives. Not so long ago I learned of one stammerer—a young lady
who had stammered from early childhood—whose trouble was most
in evidence when she was talking with her mother. Almost all
stammerers, too, enjoy temporary relief from their speech defect
when greatly startled, angry, or otherwise excited.
Decidedly, then, it is not from anatomical or physiological inability to
speak that a stammerer suffers. It is, rather, from a psychological
inability. That is to say, the facts just mentioned indicate strongly
that stammering is primarily a mental malady—that it is due to the
presence, in the mind of the stammerer, of some idea or ideas that
inhibit the normal functioning of the organs of speech. This
conclusion is confirmed by the additional circumstance that nearly
every stammerer who has been questioned on the subject admits
that he is perpetually tormented by a haunting dread of not being
able to express himself clearly to others, and so of exposing himself
to their ridicule, contempt, or pity. Many, indeed, affirm their
conviction that if they could only overcome this dread they would be
free from their affliction. "I believe," is a characteristic utterance of
stammerers, "that if I were to wake up some morning with total
forgetfulness that I had ever stammered, I should never stammer
again."
Still more significant is the fact that, of the many methods which
have been invented for the treatment of stammering—and which
include such curious devices as beating time with every word, and
wearing artificial supports under the tongue—all have had to their
credit a certain—however small—proportion of genuine cures. This
would suggest, not that they have been intrinsically valuable, but
that, in the cases cured, they so impressed the mind of the
stammerer with their therapeutic virtue as to banish his long-
entertained belief that he could not talk like other people. For that
matter, recent experiments go to bear out the view that almost any
method, no matter how fantastic, will cure some stammerers, if only
they have a lively faith in its efficacy.
For example, there was once brought to the Boston City Hospital a
woman of thirty-five, who, though formerly speaking without any
difficulty, had begun to stammer in a frightful manner, following a
violent quarrel with her husband. She could utter scarcely a sound,
except weirdly inarticulate noises, and these only by a great effort.
The physician to whom her case was entrusted soon became
satisfied that she was suffering mainly from a profound belief that
she would never be able to talk again; and he therefore
endeavoured to reason her out of this, but to no purpose. Finally, he
abandoned the attempt, and, after leaving her pretty much to her
own devices for several days, impressively said to her one morning,
in a tone of great authority:
"Well, Mrs. Blank, I have been looking carefully into your case, and I
find there is one way certain to cure you. It may be a little painful,
but I know you will not mind that, as long as it is going to make you
entirely well."
So saying, and with an air of the utmost confidence, he began to
apply to her an electric current, just strong enough to make her
wince. Only a few treatments of this sort were found necessary to
enable the hospital authorities to discharge her as cured—and she
stayed cured.
Of late, consequently, with growing recognition of the dominant
psychic factor in stammering, there has been an increasing tendency
—though as yet it is far from universal—to employ psychological
methods in treating stammerers. The effort is made to instil
confidence in the sufferer—to convince him that he need only
exercise his will power to bring about his own cure. In a good many
cases, and frequently with gratifying results, resort is had to
hypnotism, the "suggestion" being reiterated to the patient, while in
the hypnotic state, that in the future he will experience none of his
overwhelming sensations of dread and anxiety and will speak as
fluently as persons who have never stammered. Or he may be
treated by psychic re-education, which consists essentially in the
development of volitional control by suggestions tactfully imparted in
the ordinary waking state. All of which unquestionably marks a
tremendous advance over the theories and practices based on the
alleged anatomical or physiological defects of stammerers.
There is this to be added, though, that, sanely beneficial as is the
psychological treatment of stammering, it often happens that the
confidence-inspiring suggestions given to stammerers do not "take."
The stammerer, albeit he may perhaps show improvement for a
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