That contradictory nature comes
through in every scene in which Lincoln both makes a point (usually about slavery) and breaks the tension with a story, with Day - Lewis varying the
rhythm and volume of his
speech and timing every gesture to carry everyone in the room along with him at the same time.
Study subjects asked to «talk» their way
through mazes used more verbal fillers when confronted with mazes that could be navigated using multiple routes.33 Conversely, mazes with a single path (and fewer choices) produced fewer fillers.34 But the maze study produced another interesting result: When study subjects were told they could use only four words to talk their way
through the maze (left, right, up, down), they began to use more verbal fillers, even when describing simple mazes.35 Researchers posited that the «lexical suppression» created by limiting speakers to four words triggered a stopping and starting of the
speech apparatus that prevented speakers from developing a normal
speech rhythm.36 Thus, while verbal fillers are a mark of task complexity, they also appear where, «for some other reason, the flow of
speech is disrupted.»