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Investigating Motor Training In People Who Stutter Using Fnirs, Kristen Michelle Johnson

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This pilot study investigated motor learning and neuroplasticity in persons who do and do not stutter before and after participation in a phonation onset training protocol. Outcomes included phonation onset time and percent change in oxygenation level of hemoglobin using fNIRS in prescribed brain areas as a result of training. The authors hypothesized that people who stutter (PWS) would 1) exhibit a breakdown in auditory perception to motor production interactions, 2) demonstrate a difference in the way in which they perceive and learn motor information compared to someone who does not stutter (nPWS), and 3) exhibit reduced brain activity correlations …

Self-Modeling As An Intervention For Stuttering In Elementary Students, Jason Northrup

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Stuttering is a disorder involving disruptions and disfluencies in speech that impacts overall communication and affects approximately 1% of the population. In addition to speech disfluency, stuttering is often related to physical tension, embarrassment, fear, anxiety, and other negative social-emotional problems, especially for children and adolescents. Fortunately, research indicates that stuttering can be alleviated before becoming more advanced and complex as individuals enter adolescence and adulthood. Self-modeling, an intervention that involves individuals watching themselves engage in exemplary behavior, appears to be particularly effective for individuals who stutter and can be implemented in a school setting. The purpose of this study …

The Efficacy Of An Actor-Emotion Technique On Changing Communication Attitude In Children Who Stutter: A Treatment Outcome Study, Tiffany Marie Scavo

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was to test the efficacy of an actor-emotion strategy approach on changing communication attitudes in an adolescent child who stutters. The participant for this study was an eleven-year, ten-month old male attending a public middle school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who presented with a severe fluency disorder. The participant attended group sessions Monday-Thursday from 9:00-12:00 for 6 weeks as part of a fluency day camp. The study used a worksheet-based measure to evaluate emotionality on a daily basis. Using an ABA withdrawal design, two analyses were completed. The first analysis examined the stability or …

Stuck On The Tip Of My Thumb: Stuttering In American Sign Language, Geoffrey Whitebread

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This thesis aims to stimulate research on articulation disorders in American Sign Language. It discusses the controversy surrounding a clinical definition of stuttering, reviews the symptoms of stuttering in spoken languages, and examines theories of the etiology of stuttering. Ten well-connected individuals in the Deaf community were interviewed and presented a list of possible symptoms of stuttering in American Sign Language (ASL). (As a preliminary investigation, this study did not attempt to directly observe any stuttering in ASL.) Participants responded with how they thought symptoms might look in ASL and whether they had seen examples in real life. A refined …

The Adaptation Effect In Bilingual People Who Stutter: An Examination Of The Oral-Motor Rehearsal Theory, David L. Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study provided further information about stuttering among bilingual populations and attempted to assess the significance of repeated oral-motor movements during an adaptation task in two bilingual adults. This was accomplished by requesting that bilingual people who stutter to complete an adaptation task of the same written passage in two different languages. Explored was the following research question: In bilingual speakers who stutter, what is the effect of altering the oral-motor movements by changing the language of the passage read during an adaptation task? Two bilingual adults were each requested to complete an adaptation task consisting of 10 readings …

A Comparison Of Listener And Speaker Perception Of Stuttering Events, Anne Jocelyn Schagen

Dissertations and Theses

Stuttering identification, measurement, research, and treatment have for many years had their basis in listener judgment of stuttering, but the covert aspects of stuttering are not behaviorally observable, and inter-rater reliability has repeatedly been shown to be low. Perkins (1990) has emphasized the importance of consulting the speaker for the most reliable perspective on stuttering identification. The question raised in this study is whether there is a significant correlation between stuttering identification based upon internal perception by a speaker who stutters, and identification based upon external perception of listeners, with points of inter-rater disagreement removed. Six adult males, aged 18 …

A Comparison Of Speech Onset Latencies Between Persons Who Stutter And Persons Who Do Not Stutter Across Varied Phonological Priming Conditions, Brian Joseff Riffel

Dissertations and Theses

A recent theory of stuttering, the "Covert Repair Hypothesis of Disfluencies" (Kolk & Postma, in press; Postma & Kolk, 1992, 1993), accounts for the difference between persons who stutter (PWS) and persons who do not stutter (PWNS) by concluding that PWS are slower than PWNS in their phonological encoding abilities. This belief is supported through experimental studies by Bosshardt (1990) and Postma et al (1990), both of which found PWS to be slower than PWNS in silent reading tasks. In addition, Wijnen and Boers (1994) found that PWS demonstrate longer speech onset latencies than PWNS at baseline, but then approximate …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Degree Of Maintained Fluency Improvement Of Former Portland State University Stuttering Clients And The Overall Language Themes They Used, Karen F. Mathew

Dissertations and Theses

This research examined the relationship between the degree of maintained fluency improvement and the type of language used to respond to questions directly and indirectly related to speaking behavior. The subjects included sixteen former Portland State University stuttering clients who had participated in the Ginter (1979) study on fluency maintenance. The subjects responded to a thirteen item questionnaire dealing with themselves and their speaking behavior. Responses were recorded on the Modified Thematic Analysis Form developed by this examiner and analyzed according to guidelines set down by Stone and Casteel (1975) and this examiner.

An Electromyographic Comparison Of Muscle Action Potentials Of Adult Stutterers During Signalled Expectancy And Non-Expectancy To Stutter, Catherine Ann Miller

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine what relationship (if any) exists between signalled expectancy to stutter and a significant increase in muscle action potential in adults as measured by electromyography (EMG).

An Investigation Of Client Fluency Maintenance Between 1972-1977 At Portland State University, Pricilla Lynn Ginter

Dissertations and Theses

The use of so many different therapeutic approaches to stuttering raises frequent questions about methodology and treatment. Confidence in a methodology and treatment approach depends upon follow-up research conducted with systemic analysis of the individuals prior to treatment and following treatment.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a follow-up evaluation on R.L. Casteel's Four Stage Stuttering Program at Portland State University and to examine the degree of maintained fluency in relation to entering baseline, time in program, and exit stage.

A Comparison Of The Articulatory Proficiency Between Stutterers And Nonstutterers While In A State Of Oral Sensory Deprivation, Clifford Saul Goldman

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to determine if stutterers monitor speech production differently than nonstutterers while in a state of oral sensory deprivation. The specific questions asked were:

1. Does an imposed oral somesthetic feedback deficit hinder articulation proficiency more in a nonstuttering sample than in a stuttering sample?
2. If the articulation proficiency is deficient in both samples, does the nature of the errors differ between the two samples?

Listener Perception Of Fluent, Breathy, And Imprecisely Articulated Speech Of Stutterers, Diane Carol Campbell

Dissertations and Theses

Because communication involves both a sender of messages, each person could influence the other’s feelings about speaking and listening. The reactions of each member of this communication network will determine how communication will flow in the future. With an understanding of the feedback system between speakers and listeners, researchers have designed management programs which allow the speaker who stutters to develop a new pattern of speech which does not hinder his communication efforts. Fluency is the primary consideration, and normalcy of speech is second. One such program has been devised by Casteel (1974).

In Casteel’s stuttering management program a person …

Recovery From Stuttering In A Sample Of Elementary School Children, Carol Deno Kimball

Dissertations and Theses

Several studies have been undertaken to determine the incidence of recovery from stuttering; however, the results of these investigations are not reliable due to methodological limitations. For the most part, ex-post-facto recall judgements on the parts of adults or parents of young children were relied upon in gathering data for the research. It would appear that a requisite factor in determining incidence of recovery from stuttering should be the use of a formal instrument which would quantify the auditory and visual aspects of speaking behavior to determine the presence or absence of stuttering.

The primary purpose of this study was …

The Effect Of Labeling Disfluencies As 'Stuttering' And Contingent And Yoked "Wrong" On The Disfluencies Of Normal Speakers, Dennis Ray Staines

Dissertations and Theses

A labeling variable suggested by Wendell Johnson's "diagnosogenic" theory of the onset of stuttering was included in this study of the disfluencies of normal speaking college students in order to explore further the hypothetical relationship between normal disfluency and the onset of stuttering. A total of 60 Ss were randomly assigned to the following groups, each containing 10 Ss: I. Labeling Chastisement plus Contingent "wrong;" II. Labeling Chastisement plus Yoked (non-contingent) "wrong;" III. Labeling Chastisement - No "wrong;" IV. No Labeling Chastisement Contingent "wrong;" V. No Labeling Chastisement - Yoked "wrong;" VI. No Labeling Chastisement - No "wrong" …

The Structuring Of Procedures Utilized In An Adult Stuttering Treatment Program, Sarah Jane Prichard

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years, operant conditioning techniques have been effectively used to modify a variety of behaviors. For the most part, the modification of stuttering behavior has relied solely on the use of punishment. The shaping of "fluency” through differential reinforcement has been reported as a behavioral approach for the treatment of stuttering; however, the effectiveness of this technique in combination with other "teaching" tools, such as, modeling, instruction, and explanation has not been reported in the literature.

The purpose of this study was to construct behavioral definitions of terminology utilized in a stuttering treatment program at Portland State University to …

An Experimental Study To Determine The Effect Of Creative Dramatics Upon A Public School Speech Therapy Program, Sharon Lee Balyeat

All Master's Theses

The intent of the study was to determine the effect of creative dramatics upon the attitudes and language skills of a group of children participating in a public school speech correction program.