Date of Award
6-2008
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
Department
Speech Pathology and Audiology
First Advisor
Dr. Stephen Tasko
Second Advisor
Dr. John Hanley
Third Advisor
Dr. James Hillenbrand
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Speech production is a highly complex speech motor activity that presumably requires a high degree of coordination between articulatory, respiratory and phonatory subsystems. Stuttering may be caused by breakdowns in speech motor coordination. The current study attempted to evaluate timing relationship between these systems at speech initiation in the perceptually fluent speech of people who do and do not stutter. To study this, tongue blade speed histories, respiratory transitions from inspiratory to expiratory gestures, and acoustic events at the initiation of perceptually fluent speech in persons who stutter and normally fluent speakers were analyzed in relative time. To identify the effect of stuttering severity on speech events persons who stutter were further segmented into high and low stuttering severity groups. Results indicate that persons who stutter had lower speech rates than normally fluent peers and initiate initial tongue movements later than normally fluent speakers relative to respiratory events. No differences were detected based on stuttering severity. Additionally, in all speakers, complex movement and speed histories were observed, which makes studying speech production a difficult process. These results suggest that there are some subtle but significant differences between the perceptually fluent speech of persons who stutter and their normally fluent peers.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Bryan Thomas, "Relative Timing of Speech Motor Events at Utterance Invitation in Persons Who Do and Do Not Stutter" (2008). Masters Theses. 4596.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4596