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Is listener comfort a viable construct in stuttering research?
Sue O'Brian1, Ann Packman, Mark Onslow
1Australian Stuttering Research Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. s.obrian@fhs.usyd.edu.au
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR
|January 1, 2004
Summary
Researchers developed a Listener Comfort Scale to measure comfort with speech after stuttering treatment. While less reliable than the Speech Naturalness Scale, it offers unique insights into social validity.
Area of Science:
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Psychology
- Communication Sciences
Background:
- Assessing the social impact of stuttering treatment is crucial.
- Existing measures like the Speech Naturalness Scale may not fully capture listener perceptions.
- Listener comfort is a potentially important, yet under-explored, aspect of treatment outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a Listener Comfort Scale (LCS) for assessing comfort levels when communicating with individuals treated for stuttering.
- To compare the LCS with the established Speech Naturalness Scale (SNS).
- To investigate the distinctiveness of listener comfort as a measure of social validity.
Main Methods:
- Development of a 9-point Listener Comfort Scale.
- Preliminary investigation involving 15 listeners rating video recordings of adults before and after stuttering treatment, and controls.
- Comparison of LCS ratings with the Speech Naturalness Scale ratings from another 15 listeners.
Main Results:
- The Speech Naturalness Scale demonstrated superior reliability compared to the Listener Comfort Scale.
- Listeners using both scales could differentiate between pre-treatment, post-treatment, and control speech.
- The LCS appears to capture different information than the SNS.
Conclusions:
- The Listener Comfort Scale is a potentially valuable tool for evaluating the social validity of stuttering treatments.
- Listener comfort provides a distinct perspective on treatment outcomes beyond speech naturalness.
- Further research into listener comfort is warranted to enhance understanding of treatment effectiveness.