This monograph, well fortified with reports of cases and bibliographic material, partially removes stammering from the field of psychology and places it in the realm of neurophysiology.
Bluemel refers to the experiments of Pavlov and others on the conditioned reflex and applies it to speech. Then he brings in the physiologic factor of inhibition and shows nicely the check that it exerts on conditioned reflexes and hereditary responses. He then carries this concept of conflict between the conditioned reflex of speech and inhibition through primary and secondary stammering.
Primary stammering is demonstrated as an immature conditioned reflex (a lack of sufficient positive reflex conditioning). Secondary stammering shows embarrassing associations negatively conditioning the subject not only to speech but to persons and situations.
In discussing the clinical side of the inhibitory influence Bluemel cites the check that inhibition exerts on conditional and, to a less extent, hereditary responses. Various theories of