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Induced speechlessness?

Bradk3

Thinker
Bradk3
Joined
May 25, 2006
Messages
201
Dogdoctor's post here: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1751033#post1751033 got me thinking about a phenomenon my coworker told me about once.

He claimed that it is possible to temporarily make someone speechless by repeating their words back to them almost immediately. Apparently, the person's brain is unable to cope with hearing their own words like this and is rendered speechless and unable to talk for a few moments.

I find the idea fascinating, but I'm not sure I entirely trust him on this one (he's not a pathalogical liar or anything, just, erm, creative with the facts). I've searched, but haven't been able to find any information on this.

Is there anyone here who knows what I'm talking about and can enlighten me?
 
Total woo. The only thing that will happen is that the other party will get confused and lost in his or her tracks, and will have to spend a little time to remember what (s)he was saying.
 
I can report that I have a very difficult time talking when I can hear the echo of my own voice on a delay of about a second or so. This occasionally happens when I'm talking on the phone, for reasons I assume have something to do with the equipment in use on the other end. I can adjust to it, but it takes some effort.
 
If it's the right person, her saying anything to me could render me speechless.

A good experiment must control for such things...
 
There's speechless and there's unable to speak.

I find the best way to render someone unable to speak is a hard punch to the solar plexus.
 
Bradk3 said:
...He claimed that it is possible to temporarily make someone speechless by repeating their words back to them almost immediately. Apparently, the person's brain is unable to cope with hearing their own words like this and is rendered speechless and unable to talk for a few moments.
...?
Click to expand...

Actually I believe someone is rendered speechless when they realize they are speaking to someone acting like an 8-year-old brat.
 
I never made any such claim. Read what I wrote. It makes some people loose track of what they are saying.


Editted to add: Sorry but I missread what you wrote Hydrogen Cyanide pointed it out to me
 
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Dymanic said:
This occasionally happens when I'm talking on the phone, for reasons I assume have something to do with the equipment in use on the other end. I can adjust to it, but it takes some effort.
Click to expand...

interesting article (to me at least) about echo in phone systems. even occurs in digital systems.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8424

and i don't think repeating someone's words back to them is necessary, just say ANYTHING a second or two behind someone and they'll usually stop talking for a second. Keep it up and someone mysteriously gets a bloody nose.
 
A way to check for an effect would be to set up a half second delay recording system so that whatever you say comes back to you delayed a little from when you say it. This could also be observed on live radio. Some people talking on live radio with their radios on have difficulty talking because they hear the sound delayed in time to when they are saying it. Some people have no problem with it.
 
Dogdoctor said:
I never made any such claim. Read what I wrote. It makes some people loose track of what they are saying.
Click to expand...

? huh ? ... I believe Brad3k was referring to something his coworker said, not you. Your post just reminded him of it, and I had not even looked at it when I made my comment.

It just has not been that long ago that I did have an 8-year-old who would be a brat and repeat her brothers (and when they were younger, her brothers did the same thing).
 
Dogdoctor said:
A way to check for an effect would be to set up a half second delay recording system so that whatever you say comes back to you delayed a little from when you say it. This could also be observed on live radio. Some people talking on live radio with their radios on have difficulty talking because they hear the sound delayed in time to when they are saying it. Some people have no problem with it.
Click to expand...

Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) is used in some devices for people who stutter. Experiments have shown that it significantly reduces stuttering (up to 70%).

So, no, it doesn't make people speechless.
 
Kaarjuus said:
Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) is used in some devices for people who stutter. Experiments have shown that it significantly reduces stuttering (up to 70%).

So, no, it doesn't make people speechless.
Click to expand...
In this case people would be using it over and over again. This says nothing about the initial effect.
 
A stroke in the speech center of the brain will render some one speechless. Just saying.


Boo
 
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