Rapid naming ability in adults with stuttering

Area of Science:

• Speech and Language Pathology
• Neuroscience of Communication

Background:

• Phonological encoding is crucial for fluent speech.
• Rapid automatized naming (RAN) abilities are not well-understood in adults who stutter.
• Stuttering may involve underlying difficulties in speech production processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate rapid naming abilities in adults who stutter.
• To compare RAN performance between individuals who stutter and those who do not.
• To explore the relationship between stuttering and phonological encoding efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Assessed rapid naming in 32 adults who stutter and 32 controls (aged 18-30).
• Utilized the Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) and Rapid Alternating Stimulus (RAS) tests.
• Measured task completion times across different subtasks.

Main Results:

• Individuals who stutter demonstrated significantly longer completion times on RAN/RAS tasks.
• Specific difficulties were noted in the rapid alternating stimulus 3-set and color subtasks.
• Results suggest a potential breakdown in phonological encoding abilities in persons who stutter.

Conclusions:

• Adults who stutter exhibit impaired rapid naming skills.
• These deficits likely reflect underlying phonological encoding challenges.
• Rapid naming assessment should be integrated into the evaluation and treatment of stuttering.