"GORDON"?A CLINIC PICTURE By Madella

Rigby, Recorder, The Psychological Clinic, University of Pennsylvania

When the examination of Gordon began on January 17, 1929, far more interested in comparing his responses with those of his previous examination in July, 1928, than in observing the I

was

boy is

himself.

none too

This attitude may be explained by the fact that he a youngster either in appearance or in per-

attractive

sonality. Even a first impression of that protruding jaw and those thick shapeless lips is unconsciously repellant. In some mental sub-stratum you realize that you are happier when he is busy answering questions than you would be if he turned his energies to work to impress you. However that may be, I did not feel inclined to give the boy the full encouragement of my undivided attention. The examination was progressing quietly but rapidly, so I felt free to leave the

in the pursuance of other duties. It was not many minutes later that I returned to find Gordon, having risen from his chair, standing with both feet on the floor room

body extended across the table in total disregard of the records and testing materials which were lying there. His

and his case

elbows

were on

the

table,

his chin

was

in his hands and he

was

up into the face of the somewhat perturbed examiner. Even as I walked across the room, I was amazed to see that his

looking

began kicking violently in the several directions possible to feet, and he had wriggled on to the table by means of the wellupholstered abdominal areas of his anatomy. In the abandon of the moment, Gordon was wholly unconscious of anyone's approach. The examiner, in a state of impassive calm, was endeavoring to continue the testing, to which Gordon replied that he was tired and did not want to go on. His tone of voice was slightly whining, and he was wearing a diabolical grin. In spite of the fatigue of which he complained, there was a light in his pale blue eyes that did not bespeak weariness. feet

It was at this moment that two other members of the staff reached the spot. Gordon was taken in hand and placed on his The examiner continued with the questions but Gordon chair. could not be cajoled into compliance. He was threatened with a ruler.

The effect

was

not

particularly

successful.

clared in full voice that he would not try to

answer

Gordon dethe

questions.

266

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC

He wriggled and swung his body from side to side in an effort to free himself from his captors. The examiner, still seated and still

calm, was holding the boy's legs, while three others holding him in his chair,?one for each arm and one for his

head.

The noise

came

was so

in to

great that what

a

fourth member of the staff

were

Fearing that a scandal from the tumult that Gordon was causing, she brought cold water and threw it in his face. This stopped the noise and the struggling at once, and even before the sobbing had completely subsided, the examiner was again pelting the boy with questions.

running might arise

see

was

happening.

An informal interview with Gordon's mother of the violence committed be

accustomed to

quite

met the incident with

She is talks in

by and upon such proceedings.

her

as a

son

consequence

showed her to

The mother

certainly

perfect confidence in the Clinic methods.

extremely high-strung, excitable person herself. She deep masculine voice and her speech is staccato, her movements restless and jumpy. She has the same protruding lower lip that her son has, although in Gordon, the pugilistic contour is an a

marked.

more

During where

shop the was

new

this

respite the perfect rapport

examiner had taken Gordon into the was re-established with the help of

electric music-box that

willing

was

being

tried out.

Now Gordon

to continue with the examination.

At the time of his second examination Gordon

was seven years,

eleven months of age. On the Stanford Revision of the BinetSimon tests Gordon's mental age was eight years, six months. His Basal

Upper Limit was twelve. At vocabulary test (for his score of this test was but 8) and he failed the 3rd degree comprehension. (It is interesting to notice that to the question, "What's the thing to do when a playmate hits you without meaning to do it?" he replied, "Hit him back.") At year IX he failed to give the date, to arrange the weights correctly and to make change. (In this last test, he subtracted on his fingers but even that method did not yield him a correct answer.) At year X, he was able to answer correctly only the test of reading and report, and the test Year

Age

VIII

he

was

seven

failed

and the

the

of 60 words in three minutes.

His memories

giving words was to name occasionally to resort to rhymes. He

method of

were

achieved

room

and

Intelligence Quo10% superior to 50% an

tient of 107 which places him in a group of 40% of boys at the Six Year Level.

and inferior to

nine and his

the contents of the

GORDON?A CLINIC PICTURE the Binet-Simon Scale form with those of the previous summer.

These tests

on

an

267

interesting

com-

parison Chronological Age was 7-4 and he achieved a with a resulting Intelligence Quotient of 110.

At that time his Mental Age of 8-1 His Basal Age was 6 and the Upper Limit 10. At year VII he failed to give the differences and only received half credit for tying the bow-knot. At year VIII he failed to evolve even an inferior plan in the ball and field problem; he failed to give similarities and his vocabulary score was

minus.

At year IX he gave tlie date and

was

able to

give

rhymes satisfactorily. There is no striking

variation in Gordon's scores on the PerHe showed good coformance Tests at the two examinations. the problems. Someof ordination, planfulness and comprehension times he would try to force blocks into wrong holes but he showed a fair amount of analytic discrimination ^in searching for the block to fit into each

particular recess. Memory Span shows slight variation. At the first examination the visual span was 6, auditory 6 and reverse 3. At the second examination the visual was 7, auditory 5, and reverse 4. A physical examination of this case showed mixed signs of thyroid imbalance. He has the hands, eyes, head, walk, and temper tantrums of a high grade Mongolian, and his protruding His

abdomen suggests Cretinism. His tongue was normal but curious in its changes of color and shape. Only one testicle had descended and that

was

very much undersize.

evidence of sexual interest

During

the examination there

excitement. At play Gordon is very destructive. He tears his toys apart, and is quarrelsome with other children. At the age of four he choked two kittens to death. According to his mother, however, he likes animals now and since that cruelty has not been seen to was no

or

He often fights with other children and will even pit strength against people older and stronger than himself. He feels that he can fight anyone and shows little discrimination in choosing an opponent. Yet his mother insists he is affectionate. harm them.

his

At school Gordon is in the 2B Grade and his teacher believes that capable of learning but his conduct interferes with his own progress as well as the progress of every one of his classmates. In he is

fact he declared his ambition to be a prize-fighter like Dempsey (not Tunney), and he said he keeps in practice at school. It is only too easy to believe him a bully and a disciplinary problem.

During

the conference between his mother and Dr.

Witmer,

the

boy

268

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC the show-off.

Even at the age of 7 he shows the physique the temperament and desire admirable in a pugilist. The remarkable factor in this case is the high intellectual level.

played as

well

as

This alert mind and intellectual

capacity combined with moral imof feeblemindedness that is exceedingly danbecility type to From the case as gerous society. reported, it is evident that Gordon's standards of conduct are not those of the law-abiding make

citizen of

according

a

today. to his

The abilities which he possesses will be perfected lights. He has already demonstrated that his

orientation is not that

accepted as desirable in the eyes of our present day social organization. Gordon has good motor control but his idea in regard to its exercise is definitely frowned on by our society. There is no place for a fighting man in our everyday life. It is no longer necessary to beat the wolf from the door by sheer brute force. Social standards have so changed that cunning even in a physical weakling is more successful than are bodily strength and an instinct to fight in an individual of mental and intellectual qualifications. So it is that Gordon must come to be restrained lest he commit

an

act of violence that will seem mere

play point of view. Therefore, in spite high Intelligence Quotient, the diagnosis in this case reads: Feebleminded on the moral scale, Socially non compos mentis, Intellectually competent, Type: non-sexual. child's

of the

to his distorted

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