PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H S Venkatagiri

Publications and source records attributed to H S Venkatagiri.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Slower and incomplete retrieval of speech motor plans is the proximal source of stuttering: stutters occur when syllable motor plans stored in memory are concatenated to produce the utterance motor plan.

This paper describes a hypothesis about stuttering that distinguishes between two methods of assembling the speech motor plan for an utterance - speech construction, which involves real-time preparation of the speech motor plan and speech concatenation, which involves retrieval and chaining of syllable motor plans stored in memory. It is hypothesized that stutters are significantly reduced when people who stutter (PWS) speak in novel speaking patterns such as whispering and prolonged speech because these unaccustomed speaking tasks require speech construction. In contrast, when PWS speak in their habitual speech pattern, concatenating syllable motor plans stored in memory, they stutter. Reaction time studies and the effect of word frequency on stutter rate show that PWS are slower in retrieving stored motor plans during speech concatenation. On the other hand, conditions that positively prime the retrieval of motor plans - phonological priming, reading, production of serial speech, speech shadowing, and stuttering adaptation tasks - speed up the retrieval of motor plans and, therefore, reduce the amount of stutters. The slower retrieval of syllable motor plans may lead to an incomplete specification of the utterance motor plan. Stutters result when the articulatory system attempts to execute an underspecified utterance motor plan.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Bridging the divide between laboratory and "real world" in stuttering.

Stutterers stutter significantly less in the laboratory and the clinic than in everyday speaking situations. This paper reviews pertinent literature to show that, in the outside world, stutterers have a stake in what they say and therefore message content and interpersonal dynamics command attention-relegating speech-motor planning and execution to an automatic, memory-based process called speech concatenation. In the laboratory and the clinic, content of communication and interpersonal dynamics are less important, allowing stutterers to concentrate on the motor planning of articulation and prosody. Evidence reviewed here suggests that speech construction (real time preparation of an utterance motor plan) is incompatible with stuttering. Evidence also suggests that a slight delay in retrieving motor plans from memory during speech concatenation is the immediate source of stuttering.

Communication↗
PubMed1982

Reaction time for /s/ and /z/ in stutterers and nonstutterers: a test of discoordination hypothesis.

In an attempt to test the hypothesis that stuttering is the result of discoordination between phonation and articulation, 10 adult stutterers and 10 adult nonstutterers were asked to produce prolonged versions of /z/ and /s/ sounds, as quickly as possible, in response to tone stimuli. It was hypothesized that stutterers would exhibit significantly longer reaction time (RT) for the /z/, a voiced sound, than would a similar group of nonstutterers, whereas the two groups would not differ in RT for the /s/ sound, the unvoiced counterpart of /z/. The results showed that stutterers as a group did not differ from nonstutterers in RT for either the /z/ of the /s/ sound. However, it was found that severe stutterers exhibited significantly longer RTs for the /z/ sound than did mild stutterers. There were no differences between severe and mild stutterers in RT for the /s/ sound.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The core disruption under delayed auditory feedback: evidence from adaptation study.

The present study investigated the course of adaptation of various disfluency types during five repeated oral readings under bilateral delayed auditory feedback. The results indicate that, contrary to earlier findings, a significant adaptation of disfluencies occurs during repeated oral readings under DAF. Frequency of dysrhythmic phonations and reading errors decreased significantly in successive readings whereas the frequency of part-word repetitions showed no such decrease. It is suggested that, of the many different forms of disruptions known to occur under DAF, part-word repetitions represent the most basic and persistent form of disruption.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Recent advances in the treatment of stuttering: a theoretical perspective.

UNLABELLED: Prolonged speech and its variants are widely used in the behavioral treatment of stuttering. Unlike these approaches, which depend on clinician-prescribed speech pattern changes, two behavioral treatment regimens, one for children and another for adults, recently developed at the Australian Stuttering Research Center, promote self-monitoring of speech as a means of controlling stuttering. In these programs, the clients themselves modify their speech in subtle and variable ways to gain control over stuttering and, in that, they appear to be similar to a well-known experimental technique for suppressing stutters known as response contingent stimulation. The present paper provides an integrated explanation for the effectiveness of both clinician-directed as well as client-initiated speech pattern modifications and, in the process, develops a new model of stuttering. It also shows why client-generated speech patterns changes potentially produce faster and more lasting improvement than those changes prescribed by a clinician. LEARNING OUTCOMES: The reader will learn about: (1) two hypothesized methods of preparing utterance motor plans--speech concatenation and speech construction; (2) how behavioral treatment programs make use of speech construction to promote fluency in persons who stutter; (3) why therapy procedures based on cognitively driven speech construction produce faster and superior results than those based on motorically driven speech construction; and (4) the empirical evidence that suggests that speech concatenation is the source of stuttering.

Adult↗