Purpose: To relate changes in four variables previously defined as characteristic of normally fluent speech to changes in phonatory behavior during oral reading by persons who stutter (PWS) and normally fluent controls under multiple fluency-inducing (FI) conditions. Method: Twelve PWS and 12 controls each completed 4 ABA experiments. During A…

Many differences in brain activity have been reported between persons who stutter (PWS) and typically fluent controls during oral reading tasks. An earlier meta-analysis of imaging studies identified stutter-related regions, but recent studies report less agreement with those regions. A PET study on adult dextral PWS (n = 18) and matched fluent…

Purpose: To assess the feasibility of using one or more of four standard economic preference measures to assess health-related quality of life in stuttering, by assessing respondents' views of the acceptability of those measures. Method and results: A graphic positioning scale approach was used with 80 adults to assess four variables previously…

Purpose: This study introduces a series of systematic investigations intended to clarify the parameters of the fluency-inducing conditions (FICs) in stuttering. Method: Participants included 11 adults, aged 20-63 years, with typical speech-production skills. A repeated measures design was used to examine the relationships between several speech…

Purpose: Previous investigations of persons who stutter have demonstrated changes in vocalization variables during fluency-inducing conditions (FICs). A series of studies has also shown that a reduction in short intervals of phonation, those from 30 to 200 ms, is associated with decreased stuttering. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to…

Purpose: To investigate the effects of 4 fluency-inducing (FI) conditions on self-rated speech effort and other variables in adults who stutter and in normally fluent controls. Method: Twelve adults with persistent stuttering and 12 adults who had never stuttered each completed 4 ABA-format experiments. During A phases, participants read aloud…

Purpose: The purposes of this study were (a) to determine whether highly experienced clinicians and researchers agreed with each other in judging the presence or absence of stuttering in the speech of children who stutter and (b) to determine how those binary stuttered/nonstuttered judgments related to categorizations of the same speech based on…

Purpose: This study assessed the psychometric properties of instruments used to measure constructs similar to stuttering-specific health-related quality of life. In the stuttering literature, most such instruments were originally intended to measure speakers' attitudes about, or reactions to, their stuttering. Method: Seventeen instruments were…

Purpose: To complete a systematic review, incorporating trial quality assessment, of published research about pharmacological treatments for stuttering. Goals included the identification of treatment recommendations and research needs based on the available high-quality evidence. Method: Multiple readers reviewed 31 articles published between 1970…

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to describe 10 criteria that may help clinicians distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific treatment claims. The criteria are illustrated, first for considering whether to use a newly developed treatment and second for attempting to understand arguments about controversial treatments. Method:…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare judgments of stuttering made by students and clinicians with previously available judgments made by highly experienced judges in stuttering. Method: On two occasions, 41 university students and 31 speech-language pathologists judged the presence or absence of stuttering in each of 216 audiovisually…

Purpose: This article presents, and explains the issues behind, the Stuttering Treatment Research Evaluation and Assessment Tool (STREAT), an instrument created to assist clinicians, researchers, students, and other readers in the process of critically appraising reports of stuttering treatment research. Method: The STREAT was developed by…

Purpose: To complete a systematic review, with trial quality assessment, of published research about behavioral, cognitive, and related treatments for developmental stuttering. Goals included the identification of treatment recommendations and research needs based on the available high-quality evidence about stuttering treatment for preschoolers,…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether standard pharmaco-economic preference methods can be used to assess perceived quality of life in stuttering. Method: Seventy-five nonstuttering adults completed a standardized face-to-face interview that included a rating scale, standard gamble, and time trade-off preference measures for…

In light of emerging findings concerning untreated recovery and neural plasticity, this paper re-examines the viability of an NIH conference recommendation [Cooper, J. A. (1990). Research directions in stuttering: Consensus and conflict. In Cooper, J. A. (Ed.), "Research needs in stuttering: Roadblocks and future directions" (pp. 98-100).…