Purpose: Two stuttering measurement training programs currently used for training clinicians were evaluated for their efficacy in improving the accuracy of total stuttering event counting. Method: Four groups, each with 12 randomly allocated participants, completed a pretest-posttest design training study. They were evaluated by their counts of…

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…

Purpose: This study examined the effect of speech rate on phonated intervals (PIs), in order to test whether a reduction in the frequency of short PIs is an important part of the fluency-inducing mechanism of chorus reading. The influence of speech rate on stuttering frequency, speaker-judged speech effort, and listener-judged naturalness was also…

Recent brain imaging investigations of developmental stuttering show considerable disagreement regarding which regions are related to stuttering. These divergent findings have been mainly derived from group studies. To investigate functional neurophysiology with improved precision, an individual-participant approach (N = 4) using event-related…

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…

High-density ERPs were recorded in eight adults with persistent developmental stuttering (PERS) and eight matched normally fluent (CONT) control volunteers while participants either repeatedly uttered the vowel "ah" or listened to their own previously recorded vocalizations. The fronto-central N1 auditory wave was reduced in response to spoken…

Purpose: To determine whether stuttering judgment accuracy is influenced by familiarity with the stuttering speaker's language. Method: Audiovisual 7-min speech samples from nine 3- to 5-year-olds were used. Icelandic children who stutter (CWS), preselected for different levels of stuttering, were subdivided into 5-s intervals. Ten experienced…

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of a standardized training program to improve preschool teachers' ability to identify occurrences of stuttering accurately and reliably in preschool children who stutter (CWS). Method: An Icelandic version of the Stuttering Measurement Assessment and Training (SMAAT) program [Ingham, R. J., Cordes, A. K., Kilgo,…

Two studies illustrate the utility of listener ratings of speech naturalness for measuring and modifying speech naturalness during stuttering therapy. The program involved five adolescent stutterers receiving an intensive treatment incorporating a prolonged speech procedure. Results showed that speech naturalness ratings could be modified toward a…

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…

Analysis of use of positron emission tomographic measurements of resting-state regional cerebral blood flow in 29 men, 10 of whom stuttered, did not support the idea that developmental stuttering is associated with abnormalities of blood flow at rest. Findings did suggest an essentially normal functional brain terrain with a small number of minor…

The study with three adult stutterers evaluated the effects of instructions to rate and modify the naturalness of their speech and compared their self evaluations with evaluations of listeners. (Author/DB)

This study, involving an adolescent and adult male with stuttering problems, evaluated modification of the frequency of electroglottograph-measured phonation intervals on stuttering and speech naturalness. Both subjects demonstrated that stuttering could be controlled by modifying the frequency of phonation intervals within short duration ranges,…

Two experiments investigating interval-by-interval interjudge and intrajudge agreement for stuttered and nonstuttered speech intervals found that training of judges could improve reliability levels; judges with relatively high intrajudge agreement also showed relatively higher interjudge agreement; and interval-by-interval interjudge agreement was…

Purpose: Previous research has demonstrated the fluency-improving effect of reducing the occurrence of short-duration, phonated intervals (PIs; approximately 30-150 ms) in individuals who stutter, prompting the hypothesis that PIs in these individuals' speech are not distributed normally, particularly in the short PI ranges. It has also been…