Edward G. Conture

Length, grammatical complexity, and rate differences in stuttered and fluent conversational utterances of children who stutter

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess length, grammatical complexity, and articulatory speaking rate differences in stuttered and perceptibly fluent conversational utterances produced by children who stutter. Subjects were 15 boys who stutter (mean age = 51.2 months, SD = 8.09 months), each of whom was audiotaped and videotaped while interacting with his mother during a 30-min play/conversation period. Twenty-five stuttered and 25 perceptibly fluent utterances from each subjects conversational speech sample were measured in terms of syllabic length, grammatical complexity, and articulatory speaking rate, and each utterance was categorized as “high” or “low” in length, grammatical complexity, and articulatory speaking rate relative to each subjects median for each of the three variables. Results indicated that syllabic length for stuttered utterances was significantly greater than that for perceptibly fluent utterances. Additional analysis showed that significantly more stuttered utterances were categorized as “high” in length and/or grammatical complexity, and that significantly more perceptibly fluent utterances were categorized as “low” in length and/or grammatical complexity. Results supported neither the notion that articulatory speaking rate differs between stuttered and perceptibly fluent utterances, nor the idea that articulatory speaking rate, when considered together with either utterance length or utterance grammatical complexity, determines whether an utterance will be stuttered or perceptibly fluent. Results are discussed in terms of current speech production models as well as current theory that suggests that speech fluency breakdowns are more likely to occur in utterances for which task demands (performance) exceed an individuals typical level of performance (capacity or ability).

Language abilities of children who stutter: A preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to examine differences between children who do (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) on standardized tests of receptive/expressive language and receptive vocabulary. Subjects were 16 boys and 4 girls who stutter (mean age = 46.80 months) and 16 boys and 4 girls who do not stutter (mean age = 47.55 months). Each child was audio recorded during a loosely structured, 30-minute conversation with an adult. This conversational interaction was subsequently assessed to provide information pertinent to the childs frequency and type of speech disfluency. After completion of the adult-child conversational interaction, each child was administered and responded to standardized tests of syntactic, semantic, and phonological abilities and development. Results indicated that the difference between measures of receptive/expressive language and receptive vocabulary is significantly greater for CWS than CWNS; however, this difference between receptive/expressive language and receptive vocabulary scores was not significantly correlated with the overall stuttering frequency of CWS. Findings were taken to suggest that the semantic development of CWS may lag behind their syntactic development, a possible imbalance among components of the speech-language systems of CWS that may contribute to the difficulties they have establishing normal speech fluency. Research supported by an NIH grant (DC00523) to Vanderbilt University.

Problems and pitfalls of electroglottography

Summary The popularity and usefulness of the electroglottograph (EGG) has increased remarkably since its introduction over a decade ago. It has been used to measure fundamental frequency of phonation, fundamental frequency perturbation, details of the vocal fold vibratory cycle, as well as to provide an indication of laryngeal vertical movement. It has also been used with a variety of speech and voice disorders. The EGG is not without its limitations and problems. Some of these are found in the electronic designs of specific instruments, whereas other problems are related to subject characteristics, the placement of the electrodes, electrode symmetry, and subject/instrument interaction. This article explores some of these concerns, primarily from the perspective of two individuals who have used the EGG extensively with children, men and women, voice patients, stutterers, and neurologically impaired persons. Some of the concerns to consider and pitfalls to avoid in the interpretation and measurement of EGG signal are discussed.

Phonological characteristics of young stutterers and their normally fluent peers : preliminary observations

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare the phonological processes exhibited by children who stutter to those exhibited by their normally fluent peers, and to relate these phonological processes to typical measures of stuttering and other speaking variables. Subject were 30 stuttering children (mean = 4 yr, 4mo) and like number of age- and sex-matched (±3 mo) normally fluent children (mean age = 4 yr, 6mo). Results indicate that the stutterers exhibited a greater number and variety of phonological processes than their normally fluent peers. Furthermore, the young stutterers also exhibited more “typical” processes than their normally fluent peers. Findings are taken to suggest that young stutterers who exhibit disordered phonology may represent a subgroup of stutterers. It is further suggested that the nature and course of remediation may be different for these children than for stutterers without disordered phonology.

Relationship of length and grammatical complexity to the systematic and nonsystematic speech errors and stuttering of children who stutter

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether increased utterance length and grammatical complexity are associated with changes in frequency of systematic speech errors (i.e., phonological processes, or sound changes affecting an entire class of sounds or sound sequence [Edwards & Shriberg, 1983] ), and nonsystematic speech errors (i.e., a word or string of words that apparently deviates from the speakers intention, but that is not characteristic of the childs systematic [phonological process]) of children who stutter (CWS). Subjects were 10 boys (Ss mean age = 50.6 months; SD = 13.07 months) who exhibited both stuttering and disordered phonology, each of whom was audiotaped and videotaped while interacting with his/her mother during a 30-minute play/conversation period. Twenty-five stuttered and 25 nonstuttered utterances from each subjects conversational speech sample were measured in terms of utterance length, grammatical complexity, and systematic and nonsystematic speech errors. An utterance was then categorized as “high” or “low” in length and grammatical complexity relative to the subjects median for each of the two variables, and then related to total frequency of systematic and nonsystematic speech errors. Results indicated that stuttered utterances were significantly more complex and longer than nonstuttered utterances; however, there were no significant differences in systematic and nonsystematic errors for either stuttered or nonstuttered utterances relative to the grammatical complexity or length of utterance. Findings were taken to suggest that increased length and/or grammatical complexity of an utterance does not influence the frequency of systematic and nonsystematic speech errors, but does seem, as others have shown, to influence the frequency of stuttering.

Acoustic analysis of young stutterers' fluency: Preliminary observations☆

Abstract The purpose of this study was to provide a preliminary description and comparison of the temporal parameters of speech production of young stutterers and normally fluent peers as represented within the acoustic waveform (for example, frication and aspiration durations) for word-initial /p/ and /b/. Subjects were 11 young stutterers (mean age = 4 yr, 5 mo) and a like number of sex- and age-matched (plus or minus 4 mo) normally fluent youngsters (mean age = 4 yr, 8 mo). Measured acoustic variables consisted of vowel-consonant transition duration (msec) and rate (Hz/msec), stop-gap, frication, and aspiration durations, voice onset time (VOT), consonant-vowel transition duration and rate, and vowel duration. Results indicated no significant differences between young stutterers and their normally fluent peers for any of the temporal measures for either /b/ or /p/, although differences in frication duration approached but did not reach significance. Correlational analyses did indicate differences between the two talker groups in that the normally fluent youngsters exhibited an inverse relation between stop-gap and aspiration durations while the young stutterers demonstrated a lack of any clear relation between these two temporal variables. Findings seem to suggest that young stutterers exhibit some difficulties effecting the relatively smooth, coordinated “compensatory” relations between laryngeal and supralaryngeal behaviors which would allow the system to remain within the “time limits” necessary for optimally smooth, ongoing, fluent speech production.

Dual Diathesis-Stressor Model of Emotional and Linguistic Contributions to Developmental Stuttering

This study assessed emotional and speech-language contributions to childhood stuttering. A dual diathesis-stressor framework guided this study, in which both linguistic requirements and skills, and emotion and its regulation, are hypothesized to contribute to stuttering. The language diathesis consists of expressive and receptive language skills. The emotion diathesis consists of proclivities to emotional reactivity and regulation of emotion, and the emotion stressor consists of experimentally manipulated emotional inductions prior to narrative speaking tasks. Preschool-age children who do and do not stutter were exposed to three emotion-producing overheard conversations—neutral, positive, and angry. Emotion and emotion-regulatory behaviors were coded while participants listened to each conversation and while telling a story after each overheard conversation. Instances of stuttering during each story were counted. Although there was no main effect of conversation type, results indicated that stuttering in preschool-age children is influenced by emotion and language diatheses, as well as coping strategies and situational emotional stressors. Findings support the dual diathesis-stressor model of stuttering.

Emotional Reactivity, Regulation and Childhood Stuttering: A Behavioral and Electrophysiological Study

UNLABELLED The purpose of this preliminary study was to assess whether behavioral and psychophysiological correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation are associated with developmental stuttering, as well as determine the feasibility of these methods in preschool-age children. Nine preschool-age children who stutter (CWS) and nine preschool-age children who do not stutter (CWNS) listened to brief background conversations conveying happy, neutral, and angry emotions (a resolution conversation followed the angry conversation), then produced narratives based on a text-free storybook. Electroencephalograms (EEG) recorded during listening examined cortical correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation. Speech disfluencies and observed emotion regulation were measured during a narrative immediately after each background conversation. Results indicated that decreased use of regulatory strategies is related to more stuttering in children who stutter. However, no significant differences were found in EEG measurements of emotional reactivity and regulation between CWS and CWNS or between emotion elicitation conditions. Findings were taken to suggest that use of regulatory strategies may relate to the fluency of preschool-age childrens speech-language output. LEARNING OUTCOMES The reader will be able to (1) describe emotional reactivity and regulation processes, (2) discuss evidence for or against the relations of emotional reactivity, regulation and stuttering, (3) understand how multiple measures can be used to measure emotional reactivity and regulation.

Utterance complexity and stuttering on function words in preschool-age children who stutter

UNLABELLED The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relation between utterance complexity and utterance position and the tendency to stutter on function words in preschool-age children who stutter (CWS). Two separate studies involving two different groups of participants (Study 1, n=30; Study 2, n=30) were conducted. Participants were preschool-age CWS between the age of 3, 0 and 5, 11 who engaged in 15-20min parent-child conversational interactions. From audio-video recordings of each interaction, every child utterance of each parent-child sample was transcribed. From these transcripts, for each participant, measures of language (e.g., length and complexity) and measures of stuttering (e.g., word type and utterance position) were obtained. Results of Study 1 indicated that children stuttered more frequently on function words, but that this tendency was not greater for complex than simple utterances. Results of Study 2, involving the assessment of utterance position and MLU quartile, indicated that that stuttering was more likely to occur with increasing sentence length, and that stuttering tended to occur at the utterance-initial position, the position where function words were also more likely to occur. Findings were taken to suggest that, although word-level influences cannot be discounted, utterance-level influences contribute to the loci of stuttering in preschool-age children, and may help account for developmental changes in the loci of stuttering. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES The reader will learn about and be able to: (a) describe the influence of word type (function versus content words), and grammatical complexity, on disfluent speech; (b) compare the effect of stuttering frequency based on the position of the word in the utterance; (c) discuss the contribution of utterance position on the frequency of stuttering on function words; and (d) explain possible reasons why preschoolers stutter more frequently on function words than content words.

Evaluating efficacy of treatment of stuttering: School-age children

Abstract Our purpose in writing this article is to discuss current problems and progress in evaluating efficacy of treatment of stuttering in school-age children. We will focus on children between approximately 6 and 12 years of age (i.e., 1st through 6th grades of elementary school). Problems unique to this population in terms of nature of stuttering, treatment approaches, measurement, reliability, validity, and long-term outcome will be discussed, with particular relevance to the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy with school-age stutterers. We will suggest guidelines and standards for conducting and evaluating research on treatment efficacy with school-age children who stutter, in the hope that this may lead to a more focused, coordinated effort in this area. One major point we wish to make in this chapter is that true therapy efficacy involves improving the stuttering childs ability to use his speech in daily communicative situations. Thus, we are concerned not only with improvement in stuttering in clinical settings, but also with gains in the childs use of his speech—whether he is fluent or stuttering—at home, school, and play.