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Why Stuttering Occurs: The Role of Cognitive Conflict and Control
1Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Delaware, Newark.
Topics in Language Disorders
|June 16, 2025
Summary
Stuttering emerges from cognitive conflict in children due to speech processing limits. This can lead to motor freezing, anxiety, and persistent stuttering.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Stuttering is a complex disorder affecting speech fluency.
- Previous theories have not fully integrated cognitive and motor aspects.
- Recent findings suggest a role for cognitive conflict in stuttering.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a unified theoretical account of stuttering.
- To integrate existing explanations with new experimental data.
- To explain the emergence and persistence of stuttering.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical synthesis of existing literature.
- Incorporation of recent experimental findings on cognitive and neural processes.
- Development of a cognitive-neuromotor model of stuttering.
Main Results:
- Stuttering arises from excessive cognitive conflict detection linked to speech-language limitations.
- Approach-avoidance motivational conflict contributes to reliance on cognitive control during speech.
- Maladaptive neural activation leads to motor freezing during speech initiation.
Conclusions:
- The proposed model explains stuttering-like disfluencies and their persistence.
- Motor freezing is a key component, akin to defensive behavior.
- This framework accounts for associated tension, anxiety, and loss of control in stuttering.
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