Assessment of Some Contemporary Theories of Stuttering That Apply to Spontaneous Speech

In this article, a selection of theoretical approaches about stuttering is examined. One way of characterizing theories is in terms of whether the problem of stuttering arises at the linguistic or motor levels or in the interaction between the two. A second contrast between theories is in terms of whether they link production together with perception (linked theories, e.g., the covert repair hypothesis) or they consider that the production system works independent of perception (autonomous theories, e.g., EXPLAN). It is argued that many features of stuttering can be explained in an autonomous production model in which the problem arises at the point where linguistic and motor processes interact.