Delayed auditory feedback effects during reading and conversation tasks: gender differences in fluent adults

Area of Science:

• Speech and Hearing Sciences
• Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) is known to affect speech fluency.
• Gender differences exist in the prevalence of developmental stuttering (DS).
• Previous research suggests DAF impacts males and females differently.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate gender differences in DAF-induced speech dysfluency in normally fluent adults.
• To compare DAF effects during oral reading and conversation tasks.
• To explore potential links between DAF responses, gender, and DS prevalence.

Main Methods:

• 20 males and 21 females participated in the study.
• Participants performed oral reading and conversation tasks under various feedback conditions (no feedback, non-delayed, and 5 DAF intervals).
• Speech fluency measures included stutter-like dysfluencies (SLDs), articulation errors, interjections, reading errors, and speech rate.

Main Results:

• DAF induced more SLDs during conversation than reading, with a significantly greater effect in males (Gender x Task x Feedback interaction).
• Males exhibited more reading errors than females.
• DAF reduced speaking rate more during reading than conversation and decreased interjections while increasing articulation errors, with no observed gender differences for these measures.

Conclusions:

• DAF elicits greater speech disfluency in males compared to females, especially during conversational speech.
• These findings contribute to understanding gender disparities in developmental stuttering.
• Individual differences in attentional control may mediate DAF effects and gender differences in DS.