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PART II

CHAPTER III

EDUCATION AND GROWTH OF THE NEW PERSONALITY

LIKE an infant, he did not know the meaning of the simplest words, nor did he understand the use of language. Imitation was the factor in his first education. He learned the meaning of words by imitating definite articulate sounds made in connection with certain objects and activities. The pronunciation of words and their combination into whole phrases he acquired in the same imitative way. At first, he simply repeated any word and sentence heard, thinking that this meant something to others. This manner of blind repetition and unintelligent imitation was, however, soon given up, and he began systematically to learn the meaning of words in connection with the objective content they signified. As in the case of children who, in their early developmental stage, use one word to indicate many objects entirely different in their nature, but having some common point of superficial resemblance, so was it in the case of Mr. Hanna: the first word he acquired was used by him to indicate all the objects he wanted.

            It goes without saying that the very first objects for which he felt the most intense interest were those that had relations to the elementary and at the same time indispensable sensation for the maintenance of life, namely, hunger. Words denoting articles of food were the first he acquired for the purposes of intercommunication with his environment.

            The first word he learned to know and to repeat was “apple.” An apple was given to the patient when he was hungry and the attendant, pointing to the fruit, pronounced the word “apple” several times with great emphasis. The patient repeated “apple, apple,” but did not grasp the import of the word as relating to this one particular object. To him “apple” was in a vague way associated with hunger and craving for food. When later he again became hungry, he called for “apple,” but when the fruit was brought to him he rejected it in disgust. He wanted some of the other articles of food or dainties that had been given to him, but which were not “apple.” This apparent contradiction was taken by those about him as signs indicating capriciousness and perhaps mental derangement. On several occasions the unfortunate young man was obliged to remain without food, since instead of the dainties craved for, the undesirable “apple” was constantly thrust before him. He was disgusted at incessant reappearance of the same fruit.

            At first Mr. Hanna had no idea that there were terms for all classes of objects; he did not know abstract and universal terms. He could not understand the use of words denoting quality such as “whiteness.”

            He had no idea of words having a universal significance, such as food, fruit, etc. He learned only the names of particular objects. He did not seem to learn words of universal import, words which would have been of far greater use to him. “When they had given me three or four things,” he told us afterward, “I began to think there were other things to eat, too, and I wanted to learn the names of all those things. If I had only known the word ‘food’ or ‘eat’ or any of these words.”

            Although Mr. Hanna was mentally blind and had lost all knowledge formerly possessed, both in relation to the external and internal world; although he was mentally reduced to a state of infancy, strange to say, his intelligence remained intact. His curiosity for acquiring knowledge was keener than ever, and the use made of his acquisitions was truly astonishing. His faculty of judgment, his power of reasoning were as sound and vigorous as ever. The content of knowledge seemed to have been lost, but the form of knowledge remained as active as before the accident and was perhaps even more precise and definite.

            It is difficult to comprehend how a case of such a nature could possibly occur, and indeed it almost appears to be miraculous, but, as the reader will see from our further discussion, such a case may be readily analyzed and explained.

            Among his earliest experiences was that of noting means of communication between persons. He was greatly interested in the fact that in response to uttered sounds certain actions were performed by others. He attempted to obtain similar results by uttering meaningless sounds and gibberish. The young man finally came to the conclusion that definite sounds brought about definite actions, and he became more eager to learn them. His knowledge was gained by the endeavors of those about him who constantly tried by objective demonstration and explanation of words to assist him in his eager efforts to learn. He was very anxious to gain the knowledge of language necessary for communicating his wishes and expressing his wants to others. His desire to acquire the use of words and phrases was based principally upon his observation that those about him, by making movements of the lips and producing sounds, elicited from others certain responses which were frequently followed by definite actions.

            Finally Mr. Hanna in a very short time acquired a number of words sufficient to express his wants to others, and he made the best use of his limited vocabulary. A word once heard seemed indelibly impressed upon his mind, and he never again forgot it. It was really surprising to find a man starting in life with absolutely no vocabulary, with no means of communication and with no mental material, acquiring in the course of a short period a familiarity with language sufficient for carrying on intercourse with others, and with powers of imitation so keen as to enable him to follow correct grammatical forms.

            Mr. Hanna made no errors in pronunciation; used the tenses correctly, and in forming sentences combined the words in their proper order. He had great difficulty in the acquisition of the use of adjectives and abstract nouns. When a word was told to him, and the object shown, he always associated that name with the object, but did not as yet understand names signifying the qualities of objects. For instance, Mr. Hanna had learned the meaning of the word signifying the color white, but not that signifying black. Now it happened that he was shown a black hen and the name was told him. The patient thought that “black hen” was the name of the bird. The next time he saw a hen of white color, he remarked that there was another “white black-hen.”

            The way in which he learned the use of adjectives will be made clear by the following example: The difference between “good” and “bad” was made clear to him by the objective demonstration of good and bad food. When Mr. Hanna first ate an apple he devoured all of the fruit, including core and stem, but the next time he was watched and the core was taken from him. The attendant, making a wry face, said repeatedly, pointing to this indigestible part of the fruit, “Bad, bad.” The patient thus realized the meaning of these abstract words. At another time, to further emphasize the meaning of “bad,” and principally to have a word of caution against harmful objects, Mr. Hanna, when hungry, was given a piece of soap; thinking it food, he put it into his mouth. The soap was snatched away from him with the exclamation, “Bad, bad!” Thus he acquired his first knowledge of the difference between good and bad, and thereafter it was applied to different objects under many other circumstances and conditions.

            As an illustration of how abstract ideas, which were complicated and had no relation to objects, but rather to activities, were acquired, we may give the following incident: It was, of course, important to acquaint the patient with the meaning of the word “careful” in order to avoid harmful situations, but it was most difficult to convey the exact meaning of this word, and it could not be illustrated objectively. Now it happened that an attendant bringing him a glass of water upon a tray almost upset the contents. Someone exclaimed, “Be careful, be careful!” Mr. Hanna, noticing the effect, immediately grasped the significance of the phrase. Thus, knowledge of words in their abstract meaning and their wide application was gained. The fact that great difficulty was experienced in conveying to the patient’s mind the meaning of abstract words in no way indicates his dullness of comprehension. On the contrary, his mind was as keen as ever and always on the alert. The intense activity of the patient's mind and the great power of his reasoning were well illustrated by his ability to make the utmost use of the knowledge he gained.

            It is highly instructive to follow Mr. Hanna’s acquisition of knowledge of space. Immediately after the accident he was found to have no knowledge of space whatever. He possessed, however, sensations of color, of light, of shades, of darkness, but the concept of space was not present in his mind. He had no idea of distance and made efforts to grasp far-off objects, such, for instance, as ornaments and pictures that were beyond his reach.

            To illustrate the total lack of appreciation of distance, we may mention his effort, one day while still confined to his bed, to grasp a distant tree perceived through the window, The tree was to him an object of interest, presented to his eye as a series of sensations attracting his attention, and he naturally endeavored by reaching out his hand, to get hold of it. Like an infant, he would not have hesitated to grasp the moon or take hold of a star.

            Mr. Hanna, in the early stage of his secondary life, having as yet no perception of distance, had the sensation that everything was “close” to his eyes. The sense-elements, however, that go to make up the concept of space were present. Thus, he had some appreciation of room, volume. Shortly after recovering consciousness, with his eyes still closed, having none but internal sensations, and even of these no proper perception, he still had some idea of volume. He wondered how much room there could be, although he could not clearly formulate this idea. From constant efforts to reach objects, and from the many failures attending his early attempts, he gradually gained an idea of distance and learned the relation of objects to each other in space.

            Mr. Hanna seemed to acquire the knowledge of space along with that of movement. At first he was not aware of the fact that he could control his muscles. He could not adapt and co-ordinate his movements to seize near and, distant objects. He knew not how much farce to put forth—how much energy to exert to grasp objects of various size and weight. By daily effort, however, at first rather involuntary, by automatic movement and by constant exertion, the voluntary gradually emerging from the involuntary, Mr. Hanna learned to grasp objects—to feel and handle them—and thus the kinaesthetic sense was trained. The ideas of space and movement were so interlaced that their development seemed to go hand in hand.

            The primitive elements in his space knowledge were sensations of volume in a rather vague manner, and along with them also the sensations of movement; Mr. Hanna seemed to have developed the two simultaneously. Thus, at the beginning, he wondered how much room there was, and the involuntary movements of his hands gave him the feeling of how much more, how much expanded that movement could be. Once an involuntary movement of his limbs occurred he learned to repeat it voluntarily. He took pleasure in the exercise of his muscular apparatus. As in the case of the infant, the involuntary chance movements give rise to a process of auto-imitation, the same movement is repeated over and over again with great delight, and afterward this process is amplified and varied. So it was in the case of Mr. Hanna. He took delight in repeating his movements many times over, and then amplified and varied them. When a chance movement of his arms occurred, he took great pleasure in repeating it, and then went further—he extended his arms, moved them in different directions, and thus, in this uncertain, involuntary, indefinite way, gaining more definitely the idea of volume and movement. The apparently senseless excursions of his arms alarmed the physicians and attendants; he was thought to be suffering from delirium.

            Along with his own spontaneous efforts at education, those about him constantly endeavored to teach him. We must, however, call the reader's attention to the fact that although Mr. Hanna was unable to make voluntary adaptations in his movements to his environment, although he had to be taught to walk in order to reach an object, still under strong emotional upheavals he made correct movements of adaptation which he could not afterward voluntarily repeat. This fact was clearly revealed shortly after he regained consciousness, when he, supposing himself attacked, was able to make efforts of resistance and correct co-ordination of movements. However, this was but a flash that appeared under special conditions,—a flash, the general form of which he could recall and give an account of after having acquired means of communication.

            His own movements, as well as those of objects and persons about him, especially attracted and interested him, as is the case with children and lower animals. The movements of his own limbs greatly aroused his interest when after the accident he first gained consciousness and opened his eyes; it was the sensation of movement that first attracted his notice. The very first sensation he experienced in his new life was the movements of his chest in respiration. He first learned of voluntary movement by noticing that the rapidity of respiration and the concomitant rise and fall of the chest-wall were under his own control.

            Mr. Hanna did not originally appreciate differences in the cause and form of movements. Movements, voluntary and involuntary, made by himself or occurring in the external world, were of the same character to him. Thus, when he noticed an attendant walk across the room, he identified the movement with that of his own. He did not yet discriminate between his own movements and those outside himself. He gradually learned the difference between these two kinds of movement by the observation that he had control over his own movements, but not over those of others. This also was a basis originally of differentiation between himself and the external world.

            In the case of time as in that of space Mr. Hanna lacked at first all knowledge. The flow of time and the various parts of the day were at first appreciable to him only by the changes from light to darkness. Even after gaining more knowledge, he still measured the intervals rather roughly by the succession of meals.

            After he had advanced so far in his knowledge as to know of objects and to localize them more or less roughly in space and time, he still was unable to distinguish between the animate and the inanimate. It was only later on, when he had acquired some knowledge of voluntary movement, that he could discriminate between the two. At first movement in general, and later spontaneous movement, became to him the criterion of life. For some time a moving thing was to him identical with a living object. Branches and leaves of trees, because of their occasional movement, he regarded as animate, and later learning that spontaneous movement was peculiar to the animate, he wondered that branches and leaves could move.

            He did not analyze a complicated object into its different qualitative components, simply because he lacked the knowledge of the individual constituents. This was well illustrated by the following amusing incident: He saw a man sitting in a carriage and driving a horse, and observing that all moved together, he regarded them as one object, one living being. Later on, learning that there were various kinds of beings, he thought a man mounted upon a bicycle was a kind of man different from those he was accustomed to see. When, however, he learned to know the objects separately, he gained the proper conception of each.

            When he acquired knowledge of the existence of living beings, it was still hard for him to realize what persons really were in contradistinction to other living beings, and when he learned to differentiate the two, it was difficult for him to realize that he, too, was a person. Persons, he thought, moved about, while he was lying in bed; then, too, they were dressed, while he was not. The manner in which he learned that he, too, was a being like other people is interesting. Mr. Hanna, pointing to himself, asked an attendant, “people? people?” meaning to inquire whether he himself belonged to the same beings, and receiving an affirmative reply, he understood that he, too, was “people.” Here again his imitative proclivity manifested itself in that he wished to be dressed and appear like other people. He was anxious to feel that he also was a person. To emphasize the fact to himself and others, and at the same time thinking this condition indispensable for personality, he was desirous of appearing dressed like those about him.

            It was difficult for Mr. Hanna to realize that, although he was a person, still his personality differed from that of others. It was hard to convey to him the different shades of meaning of words that indicate consciousness of individuality. The ego or self-consciousness came rather late in his present mental development. He was certainly conscious and the activity of that consciousness was very intense. He was most eagerly taking in and elaborating impressions coming from the external world, impressions that were to him entirely new; still, the consciousness of self was for some time absent. It was only after prolonged efforts on the part of his teachers that he could grasp the meaning of words conveying the idea of personal relations.

            Before Mr. Hanna had acquired a more or less extensive vocabulary, an attempt was made by the attendants to convey to him the meaning and distinction between the concepts “mine” and “yours.” This was done in the foil way: A watch was placed in his hand, and a pin held by the attendant. The latter, then pointing to the watch, said and made Mr. Hanna repeat, “This is mine.” Then in a like manner, pointing to the pin, he instructed Mr. Hanna to say, “This is yours.” He could not, however, comprehend the meaning, and all efforts in that direction were in vain. He could easily repeat the words, but found it impossible to grasp their meaning. It was only later on in the course of his mental acquisition that he realized the significance of words indicating the various shades of personal relationship.

            Associated systems of ideas of a more or less fixed and definite nature characteristic of the developed mind were wanting for some time after the injury, and there could therefore be no possibility of self-conscious individuality. When he acquired more knowledge of the external and internal worlds, when his vocabulary became more extended and he could come into communication with persons and his environment, it was only then that, after great efforts, he succeeded in grasping the meaning of words that express personal relations and the significance of individuality.

            There is, of course, no need of expanding on the fact that Mr. Hanna had no idea of sex. In fact, even when he was well advanced in his mental development and enjoyed free communication with others, he still had no idea whatever of the sexual difference between men and women. Even when he was so far advanced as to discuss difficult and complicated religious questions, he still had not the least notion of sexual differences and reproduction. The first knowledge acquired of differences in sexual structure was the information given him in the distinct formation of the two sexes of the floral world. Even then, however, he knew only of the differences in sexual structure and function in the vegetable kingdom. The absence of anything pertaining to the amorous was so pronounced that he could not understand the different conventional relations between the sexes, or, as he at that time expressed it, between the “two strange kinds of human beings.” He could not understand why feelings of gratitude, friendship, likings, could not be openly and frankly expressed by caresses and kisses, in his relations toward both sexes alike.

            Although he was lacking in all other forms of knowledge, it was of great interest to find that Mr. Hanna from the very start had a keen appreciation of the harmonious in general, and of music in particular. As soon as he learned to know and recognize objects and pictures without being instructed as to what was beautiful and what was ugly, he showed at once his likes and dislikes in relation to them. In fact, we may add that his sense of appreciation of the beautiful and his disgust for the ugly was even far stronger and keener in this state after the accident than in his normal condition before it. So keen was his appreciation of the beautiful, in music especially, and so remarkably strong were his imitative powers, that he learned to sing hymns and play instruments in so short a time that the acquisition seemed almost miraculous. Having had no familiarity with the banjo before the accident, he acquired the skill of playing it in but a few hours. A friend spent an afternoon with him in teaching him to play the banjo, and was astonished at the remarkable aptitude of the pupil who in a few hours learned to handle the instrument with the facility of an experienced player. Mr. Hanna showed the same remarkable aptitude in acquiring the technique of the piano. He soon repeated with correctness several selections on the instrument after having only a few times carefully watched their execution.