The nonfluencies of eight psychiatric adults

Nonfluencies of eight psychiatric adults were evaluated through seven tasks: verbal formulation; conversational spontaneous speech; picture description; sentence reading; paragraph reading; automatic speech; and repetition of phrases and sentences. Results indicated that 12% of total subject output were nonfluences. Most nonfluencies occurred on tasks involving verbal formulation, picture description, spontaneous speech, and reading aloud of sentences and paragraphs, and least in automatic speech, and repetition of phrases and sentences. The nonfluencies were mostly repetitions, followed by hesitations and then prolongations. The nonfluencies appeared mostly on sounds, with words and phrases the next frequent, and sentences and syllables the least frequent. Finally the most nonfluencies occurred on words in the middle or beginning of sentences, with the least occurring on words at the end of sentences.