Stutter-free and stutter-filled speech signals and their role in stuttering amelioration for English speaking adults

Abstract

This study examined the power of an exogenously generated stuttered speech signal on stuttering frequency when compared to an exogenously generated normal speech signal. In addition, we examined the specific components of the second speech signal, which might be responsible for the inducement of fluency in people who stutter. Eight males and two females who stuttered participated in this study. Experiment I involved meaningful speech: normal continuous speech, normal interrupted speech, stuttered continuous speech, and stuttered interrupted speech, whereas Experiment II involved vowels and consonants: /a/, /a-i-u/, /s/, /s-sh-f/. The results indicated that stuttered and normal speech signals were equally effective in reducing stuttering frequency. Further, the vowels were more powerful than consonants in inducing fluency for people who stutter. It is suggested that acoustic manifestations of stuttering, rather than a problem, may be a natural compensatory mechanism to bypass or inhibit the ‘involuntary block’ at the neural level.