The effect of manipulating phonation duration on stuttering

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Communication Sciences
• Acoustic Phonetics

Background:

• Stuttering is a complex speech disorder affecting fluency.
• Phonation intervals are crucial acoustic measures in speech production.
• Understanding acoustic-temporal parameters can inform stuttering treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of manipulating phonation interval durations on stuttering frequency in adults.
• To assess listener perceptions of speech quality following phonation interval modification.

Main Methods:

• Two single-subject experiments were conducted with adult stutterers.
• Subjects altered the frequency of specific phonation interval durations during spontaneous speech.
• Listener-based perceptual analysis evaluated speech quality.

Main Results:

• Both participants successfully modified phonation interval frequencies.
• Changes in phonation intervals correlated positively with decreases and increases in stuttering frequency.
• Listeners detected speech quality changes when stuttering was reduced, with one subject's speech perceived as nonnormal.

Conclusions:

• Manipulating phonation intervals can reduce stuttering frequency in adults.
• Acoustic-temporal speech modifications may impact speech quality perception.
• Findings offer therapeutic and theoretical insights for stuttering intervention.