Comparison of reaction time and accuracy measures of laterality for stutterers and normal speakers

Abstract

This study compared reaction time and accuracy scores of normal speakers and stutterers on a dichotic listening syllable recognition task. A mean right ear advantage for both measures was observed for the two groups. While no group difference in ear difference score (EDS) was observed for the accuracy measure, the stutterers exhibited almost half the EDS of the normal speakers for reaction time. Analysis of group distributions revealed that stutterers are more heterogeneous than the normal speakers for all measures. Factors that influence analysis and interpretation of “laterality” data are discussed for both stutterers and nonstutterers using dichotic listening accuracy and reaction time measures.