Presented is a series of studies in which the efficacy of applying operant conditioning methodologies to the problem of stuttering was examined. One requirement was that the designed therapeutic programs utilize only verbal contingent stimuli (reinforcers and punishers) in the traditional therapeutic setting (client and therapist seated together…

Indiana school speech-language pathologists (n=157) responded to a survey regarding their educational and clinical preparation and current clinical practices with people who stutter. Respondents reported receiving insufficient academic and clinical preparation to work with people who stutter. Nearly half reported that their clinical skills are…

This survey of 616 Canadian high-school adolescents suggests that light and mild head injury is almost 10 times as common as hospital-reported incidence. The study found significant relationships between reported head injury and hyperactivity, stuttering, mixed handedness, and dislike of mathematics. (Author/JDD)

A study compared the phonological abilities of 22 preschool children whose stuttering persisted and 62 who recovered. Those whose stuttering persisted had poorer mean scores on a number of phonological characteristics, including mean percentage of error, relative levels of severity of phonological impairments, and error on specific phonological…

A study investigated whether age, gender, period from onset to treatment, and stuttering severity related to the required treatment time of 250 preschoolers who completed the Lidcombe Program. Data indicate that, for a short period after stuttering onset, a short delay in treatment did not appear to increase treatment time. (Contains references.)…

The present study investigated the language familiarity hypothesis formulated by Mackay [(1970). How does language familiarity influence stuttering under delayed auditory feedback? "Perceptual and Motor Skills", 30, 655-669] that bilinguals speak faster and stutter less under delayed auditory feedback (DAF) when speaking their more…

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the possible presence of dissociations in the speech and language skills of young children who do (CWS) and do not stutter (CWNS) using a correlation-based statistical procedure [Bates, E., Appelbaum, M., Salcedo, J., Saygin, A. P., & Pizzamiglio, L. (2003). Quantifying dissociations in…

Meta issues in stuttering were examined by analyzing verbal-descriptive data drawn from structured interviews with 23 male children who stutter (CWS) and their 23 fluent male peers. Participants described others' "good" and "bad" talk behaviors and provided their self-appraisals as talkers. Analysis of interview transcripts suggested that CWS…

One of a series of semiannual reports, this publication contains 18 articles which report the status and progress of studies on the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical applications. Articles and their authors are as follows: "Phonology and Beginning Reading Revisited (Isabelle Y. Liberman); "The Role of…

Following a literature review on speech and language development of twins, case studies are presented of six sets of identical twins screened for entrance into kindergarten. Five sets of the twins and one boy from the sixth set failed to pass the screening test, particularly the speech and language section, and were referred for therapy to correct…

This report is one of a regular series on the status and progress of studies on the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical applications. "Preliminaries to a Theory of Action with Reference to Vision" attempts to describe how the contents of vision may relate to the process of action. "On the Relationship of Speech…

This study of final-consonant repetitions in the speech of a young child supports the notion that some speech disfluencies may result from parental attempts to accelerate phonological development. An analysis of 12 half-hour-long observations over a year is presented and discussed in terms of the home environment. (Author/KM)

A survey of 128 females (ages 2-58) with Turner syndrome found almost one quarter were receiving or had received treatment for stuttering, articulation problems, and/or delayed language development, with the latter two disorders being checked most frequently. Only 4 or the 68 individuals receiving growth hormone treatment reported voice changes.…

Presented are the results of a project to test and evaluate the Conscious Synthesis of Development (CSD) method for treating stuttering which concentrates on both psychological and physiological aspects of the disorder. The report is organized into the following divisions: definition and psychophysiology of stuttering; historical overview; review…

Forty-three undergraduates and twelve graduate students evaluated their own outer and inner beauty before and immediately after a pseudostuttering assignment. Both groups had significant downshifts in both parameters of beauty. Pseudostuttering assignments were found to be an effective means for allowing student clinicians to experience negative…