This paper describes the construction and validation of a nonverbal test of rigidity (the BRT). Test items are 15 pairs of visual stimuli differing with respect to the laws of Praegnanz. Standardization on 132 students in undergraduate psychology courses indicated the necessity of separate norms for males and females. Three validation studies, employing the method of contrasted groups, established the ability of the BRT to differentiate “more rigid” from “less rigid” groups. Both odd-even and Kuder-Richardson (Form. 20) reliability coefficients were calculated, yielding values of .78, and .98, respectively. It was recommended that the use of the BRT be restricted to research purposes until studies in progress are completed.

In order to illustrate the misinterpretation of time series data, simulated temporal patterns of vocalizations and pauses were generated from a table of random digits. These data exhibited precisely those characteristics which, when seen in graphs of actual spontaneous speech, have heretofore been taken as evidence for cognitive planning. This concretizes a previously made point concerning the need to distinguish random process from causal connection.

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This study examined the potential usefulness of automated analysis of on-off speech patterns in the differentiation of stuttering from cluttering. Two groups of fifteen persons who had been previously classified as stutterers and clutterers served as subjects for this investigation. The data indicate that stutterers tend to have greater mean pause times and lower mean phonation times than clutterers. This result corresponds to the clinically observable characteristics of these groups. It is concluded that automated analysis of on-off speech patterns provides some basis for the differential diagnosis of stuttering from cluttering.