Syntactic analysis (kernel and matrix sentence frame types and transformational usage) of speech of fluent and disfluent preschool children revealed the fluent group using more double-base transformations and both groups comparable on the distribution of usage for sentence frame types. (Author/KW)

A computer-assisted method of counseling was applied to cases of stuttering and hypertension. Although both symptom complexes had previously resisted therapy, results indicated that computer-assisted counseling eliminated the stuttering and reduced diastolic blood pressure to normal levels. (Author)

Multivariate analyses revealed that dysfluency did not vary as a function of race, social status background, or sex. In addition, the relative contribution of specific types of dysfluency to total dysfluency was virtually identical in each sociocultural group. (Author/DLS)

Stuttering self-judgments from 15 adults who stutter, judgments of each others' stuttering, and the judgments of a panel of 10 stuttering researchers were compared. Results found substantial differences in stuttering judgments across speakers, judges, and judgment conditions, but across-task comparisons were complicated by low self-agreement among…

A time-out from speaking contingency was evaluated in the treatment of stuttering in three school-age children. A red light time-out signal appeared for five seconds when the child stuttered. Two of the children responded to time-out with clear reductions in stuttering. Listeners did not detect any differences between the perceptually stutter-free…

Telephone interviews with families (n=4,689) in New South Wales, Australia, found the prevalence of stuttering in the overall population was 0.72% with highest rates in children (1.4) and lowest in adolescents (0.53%). Male to female ratios were 2.3:1 overall. Incidence estimates ranged from 2.1% in adults to 3.4% in older children. The…

Four stutterers, aged 3-5, received treatment based on parent-administered, operant verbal stimulation. Data show that the intervention, coupled with a programed maintenance schedule, reduced stuttering and accompanied increases in syllable output. Findings suggest that cases of early stuttering might be managed effectively by parents, with…

Experimental studies are reviewed in which stuttering and speech disfluency were subjected to response contingent stimuli (RCS). Research issues are discussed, including response-stimulus contiguity, subject awareness, behavior definitions, stimulus control of responses, subject variability, effects of RCS on nonstuttered speech parameters,…

Four experienced stuttering researchers viewed videodisks of spontaneous speech from chronic stutterers and attempted to locate the precise onset and offset of individual stuttering events. Results showed interjudge disagreements that challenge the reliability and validity of onset and offset judgments. Highly agreed stuttering events were…

Two operant speech treatment programs for establishing fluent speech--Delayed Auditory Feedback and Gradual Increase in Length and Complexity of Utterance--were compared, with 24 elementary-secondary level students. Both programs produced important improvement in fluency in a reasonable time period and resulted in similar levels of transfer and…

The occurrence of stuttering on stress-peak and unstressed syllables in connected speech was studied in 10 young adult stutterers. Results showed a significant coincidence of stutter events and syllabic stress peaks, particularly in polysyllabic words, though stuttering on the first three words of principal clauses appeared independent of syllabic…

Testing of 17 adult and 25 adolescent stutterers during a 12-month to 24-month postintensive treatment phase revealed that 69% of subjects maintained satisfactory fluency on surprise phone calls at home/work and 80% of subjects rated their speech fluency as good or fair on the Speech Performance Questionnaire. (Author/JDD)

This study compared 24 adult stutterers and 24 nonstutterers for response initiation and completion times on manual task conditions varying as to decision complexity. It was concluded that response planning and organization deficits in stutterers are independent of decision complexity but related to spatial and temporal coordination. (Author/DB)