The disorders of speech.

  • Wyllie, John, 1914-
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The disorders of speech. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

    254/520 (page 238)
    simple. I have already recorded sevcial notable examples of such selection. Charcot aud Bernard think that the majority of people are auditifs. Bearing in mind that the auditory and motor images are revived together, but that the auditory images are of special importance in relation to incoming, and the motor to outgoing, speech, I think we may sum up the ordinary relationships of the two sets of images in the following propositions :— 1. That, when we hear words spoken to us, our auditory images are strongly revived, and our motor images are revived only faintly, if at all. 2. That, when we ourselves speak aloud, our motor images are particularly vivid, our auditory images being much less so. [Never- theless the auditory images play, even here, in most persons, a very important rdle in guiding the formation of the motor images; as is shown by the fact that in cases of word-deafness—which implies the obliteration of the auditory store of images—the motor centre may emit the wrong words when the patient tries to speak; as will further be shown by-and-by.] 3. That, when we use words internally, in process of thinking, the auditory and motor images are revived together with about equal distinctness. [For simplicity's sake, we may term this combination of the auditory aud motor images the Primary Couple.] 4. That when we read printed or written words, we revive the visual images, and that these at once call up, by association, the Primary Couple used in internal thought; so that, in reading, at least three sets of images are revived. [There is some reason to believe that the mental percept of a written word is not complete without the presence in it of at least a faint oculo-motor element. This point will, however, be considered in connexion with Word- blindness.] 5. That when we are about to write, we first revive the Primary Couple, in thought. Then we revive the visual image of the letters and words we are about to write; and lastly we revive the graphic-motor images, and forthwith exteriorize them by the act of writing. The act of writing thus implies a revival of all four sets of images—the primary couple that we use in thought and speech, and the secondary couple that we use in writing. [Observe