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Some relationships between punishment, stuttering, and galvanic skin responses
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
|June 1, 1976
Summary
Response-contingent punishment significantly reduced stuttering behaviors in 10 subjects. However, galvanic skin response (GSR) data showed no consistent change, suggesting autonomic arousal patterns are not directly linked to stuttering reduction via punishment.
Area of Science:
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Behavioral Psychology
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Stuttering is a complex speech disorder.
- Response-contingent punishment is a behavioral intervention.
- Galvanic skin response (GSR) measures autonomic arousal.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of response-contingent punishment on stuttering frequency.
- To examine the simultaneous impact on galvanic skin response (GSR) deflections.
- To determine the relationship between stuttering reduction and autonomic arousal.
Main Methods:
- 10 subjects with stuttering participated.
- Stuttering and GSR were recorded during baseline, treatment, and extinction phases.
- Response-contingent punishment was applied during the treatment phase.
Main Results:
- Stuttering frequency decreased by 50% or more during treatment.
- Mean GSR deflections remained stable or decreased across conditions.
- Individual GSR data showed varied responses: increased in 4, stable in 2, decreased in 4 subjects.
Conclusions:
- Response-contingent punishment effectively reduces stuttering behaviors.
- No predictable pattern of autonomic arousal (GSR) change was associated with stuttering reduction.
- This suggests that the physiological arousal accompanying punishment may not directly correlate with behavioral outcomes in stuttering treatment.