Kurt Eggers

Inhibitory control in childhood stuttering

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate whether previously reported parental questionnaire-based differences in inhibitory control (IC; Eggers, De Nil, & Van den Bergh, 2010) would be supported by direct measurement of IC using a computer task. METHOD Participants were 30 children who stutter (CWS; mean age=7;05 years) and 30 children who not stutter (CWNS; mean age=7;05 years). Participants were matched on age and gender (±3 months). IC was assessed by the Go/NoGo task of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks (De Sonneville, 2009). RESULTS Results indicated that CWS, compared to CWNS, (a) exhibited more false alarms and premature responses, (b) showed lower reaction times for false alarms, and (c) were less able to adapt their response style after experiencing response errors. CONCLUSIONS Our findings provide further support for the hypothesis that CWS and CWNS differ on IC. CWS, as a group, were lower in IC pointing toward a lowered ability to inhibit prepotent response tendencies. The findings were linked to previous IC-related studies and to emerging theoretical frameworks of stuttering development. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES The reader will be able to: (1) describe the concept of inhibitory control, and its functional significance; (2) describe the findings on self-regulatory processes, attentional processes, and inhibitory control in CWS; (3) identify which Go/NoGo task variables differentiated between CWS and CWNS; and (4) summarize the theoretical implications for the development of stuttering and the possible clinical implications.

The European clinical specialization on fluency disorders (ECSF)

UNLABELLED The European Clinical Specialization on Fluency Disorders (ECSF) project consists of one-year post-qualification fluency specialization training and a harmonized graduate fluency program. It was developed by eight European universities/colleges to provide the means whereby graduates would meet comparable standards of competence to practice in the field of fluency disorders. In this paper we describe criteria that guided the consortium in their decision making process to create an optimal learning environment for participants. A review of the first completed course cycle, with 23 international participants, is discussed. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (1) articulate the rationale for development of the ECSF-course; (2) summarize the content of both the harmonized undergraduate fluency course and the postgraduate fluency specialization course; (3) summarize the benefits of the suggested model for fluency specialization.

Exogenously triggered response inhibition in developmental stuttering

PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to examine relations between childrens exogenously triggered response inhibition and stuttering. METHOD Participants were 18 children who stutter (CWS; mean age = 9;01 years) and 18 children who not stutter (CWNS; mean age = 9;01 years). Participants were matched on age (±3 months) and gender. Response inhibition was assessed by a stop signal task (Verbruggen, Logan, & Stevens, 2008). RESULTS Results suggest that CWS, compared to CWNS, perform comparable to CWNS in a task where response control is externally triggered. CONCLUSIONS Our findings seem to indicate that previous questionnaire-based findings (Eggers, De Nil, & Van den Bergh, 2010) of a decreased efficiency of response inhibition cannot be generalized to all types of response inhibition.