Stuttering amelioration at various auditory feedback delays and speech rates

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the finding of Kalinowski et al. (1993) of dramatic reductions in stuttering under delayed auditory feedback (DAF) at normal and fast speech rates could be replicated. The second purpose was to determine if stuttering frequency is differentially affected by various delays in an attempt to identify the optimal delay for fluency enhancement for both normal and fast speech rates. Fourteen adult stutterers read eight different passages at either a normal or fast speech rate under non-altered auditory feedback (NAF) and DAF with delays of 25, 50 and 75 ms. Results showed that significant fluency enhancement occurred under DAF at both normal and fast speech rates at all DAF settings (p < 0.05). This finding corroborates the notion that a slowed rate of speech is not a necessary antecedent for fluency improvement under conditions of altered auditory feedback. In addition, the results indicated that 50 ms appears to be the shortest delay producing the maximum reduction in stuttering frequency.