On statements and overstatements: a response to Bench (1989)
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Behavioral Sciences↗
Biomedical subjects
R J Ingham
Publications and source records attributed to R J Ingham.
The selection of "fluent" samples in research on stuttering: conceptual and methodological considerations.
The characteristics of stutterers' fluency has been the object of much research in recent years, but it is not always clear what the term "fluency" refers to in this research. This paper reviews the concept of fluency and considers the ways in which it has been employed in research on stuttering. The methods that have been used to identify fluent intervals in stutterers' speech are reviewed along with their reliability and validity. It is concluded that there is an urgent need to clarify the reference for fluency in such studies, and to develop procedures for measuring and quantifying fluency. Additional avenues for research are also discussed.
Humans↗
Stutterers' self-ratings of speech naturalness: assessing effects and reliability.
Using single-subject experiments with 3 adult stutterers, this study evaluated the effects of instructions to stutterers to rate and modify how natural their speech sounds on experimenters' ratings of speech naturalness, stuttering frequency, and speaking rate. The study also included an investigation of the reliability of stutterers' and listeners' naturalness ratings. The stutterers were partway through a therapy program using prolonged speech or rate control. Results showed the stutterers could modify their speech so that their naturalness ratings increased or decreased. These changes were independent of stuttering or speaking rate. Experimenter ratings of speech naturalness were unchanged in conditions where stutterers judged their speech to sound more natural, but paralleled the stutterers' ratings when they judged their speech to sound more unnatural. An attempt to see if stutterers differed in their ratings of how natural their speech sounded or felt showed differences for one stutterer. Reratings of randomized session recordings by experimenters and independent judges showed that their ratings were highly reliable. When the same randomized session recordings were rerated by the stutterers (1 and 3 months after the experiment), their judgments of changes in their speech naturalness, which were not found in the experimenters' ratings, remained consistent and reliable.
Behavior Therapy↗
Speech quality measurement and the management of stuttering.
This paper reviews the various approaches that have been made toward the investigation of speech quality in stuttering treatment. The review takes into account the findings of relevant perceptual and acoustic investigations in the area of normal communication skills and voice disorders. Similar consideration is given to investigations on the stutter-free speech of stutterers where the contribution and relevance of this research to the search for a reliable and viable measure of speech quality is discussed. The review concludes with an overview of some promising findings from recent studies on the use of listener ratings of speech naturalness in the measurement and modification of untreated and treated stutterers. Some avenues for research and issues that have emerged from these studies are also discussed.
Adult↗
Theory and science in communication disorders.
The role of theory and of science for communication disorders is discussed. It is argued that communication disorders is a unique discipline, committed to the understanding and remediation of disordered communication, but that it is also fully invested in the theories and paradigms that inform all of behavioral science, and so it is inappropriate to expect it to generate its own theories. Theory contributes to research and to therapy in communication disorders, and we discuss the ways in which our discipline can make rational use of theory for both enterprises.
Behavioral Sciences↗
Stuttering assessment and acquired brain lesions.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
Stuttering and speech naturalness: some additional data.
Thirty listeners used the 9-point speech naturalness rating scale described by Martin, Haroldson, and Triden (1984) to score 1-minute spontaneous speaking samples from 15 normally fluent speakers and 15 stutterers who had completed the initial phases of a prolonged speech treatment program. The same listeners were later asked to judge whether each sample was from a stutterer or from a normal speaker. Reliable listeners identified almost identical numbers of samples from both speaker groups as "normal speakers," but the stutterers received significantly higher scores on the rating scale, indicating that their speech was judged more unnatural sounding. The speech samples incorporated those used in a related study by Ingham and Packman (1978), thus permitting a reevaluation of the findings of that study.
Humans↗
Measurement and modification of speech naturalness during stuttering therapy.
This paper describes two studies that illustrate the utility of listener ratings of speech naturalness for measuring and modifying speech naturalness during a stuttering therapy program. The program involved 5 adolescent stutterers who were receiving an intensive treatment incorporating a prolonged speech procedure. In Study A, a clinician used a 9-point rating scale to score the speech naturalness of 1-min speaking samples each stutterer made at intervals over the course of the program. The results demonstrated predictable trends in speech naturalness during the program, but they also showed that natural sounding speech is not a predictable outcome of a procedure that removes stuttering, controls speaking rate, and exposes clients to transfer procedures. In Study B, 3 of the 5 stutterers participated in single subject experiments partway through their therapy program. These experiments were designed to assess the effect of regular feedback of speech naturalness ratings on the stutterer's spontaneous speech. The results showed that each subject's speech naturalness ratings could be modified toward a target level of speech naturalness.
Adolescent↗
Modification of listener-judged naturalness in the speech of stutterers.
This study investigated the effect of regular feedback of listener-judged speech naturalness ratings on the speech of stutterers. Six adult stutterers each participated in a time-series ABA experiment. During the treatment phase the stutterer was instructed to improve a clinician's rating, on a 9-point scale, of the naturalness of each 30-s interval of the stutterer's spontaneous speech. The results indicate that the naturalness ratings and stuttering for 5 of the subjects made favorable changes during the treatment phase. Analyses of the findings show that only some of the naturalness judgments were influenced by stuttering frequency and speech rate. A perceptual analysis of the speech of 2 subjects suggested that the speech naturalness ratings were also probably influenced by other less obvious variables.
Adolescent↗
Behavioral and nonbehavioral variables in the measurement of stutterers' communication attitudes.
The influence of the behavioral variables, stuttering and speech, and the nonbehavioral variables, feelings or attitudes regarding speech, on stutterers' responses to the modified Erickson Communication Attitude Scale (known as the S24) was investigated in two studies. In the first study, 19 adult stutterers answered an amended version of the S24 Scale; it permitted subjects to nominate the basis of their response to each item on the Scale. The findings indicated that subjects regarded their responses to Scale items as largely influenced by their judgments about their stuttering and speech behavior. The second study involved within-subject experiments with three adult male stutterers. Each subject identified those situations that influenced answers on the S24 Scale. Six weekly recordings of the subjects' speech in these situations showed that stuttering frequency was consistently higher in situations associated with item responses implying negative attitudes than in situations associated with positive attitude responses. The findings challenge the claim that the S24 Scale primarily assesses feelings or attitudes regarding speech or interpersonal communication.
Adolescent↗
The effect of manipulating phonation duration on stuttering.
Two single-subject experiments with two adult stutterers were conducted to assess the effect of changing the frequency of phonation intervals that were shorter or greater than prescribed durations during spontaneous speech. Both subjects modified the frequency of prescribed phonation intervals and showed changes in the frequency of these intervals that were positively related to decreases and increases in stuttering frequency. A perceptual analysis of the subjects' speech quality during phonation control conditions showed that when stuttering frequency was reduced, listeners could detect changes in the speech quality of both subjects; however, only one subject's speech during these conditions was described as nonnormal sounding. The therapeutic and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Adult↗
On token reinforcement and stuttering therapy: another view on findings reported by Howie and Woods (1982).
Howie and Woods (1982) have provided data that, they claim, indicate that a token reinforcement system is redundant in instating and shaping fluent speech within a stuttering treatment program developed by Ingham and Andrews (1973a, b). However, there were substantial procedural differences between the treatment programs referred to in both studies, as well as methodological weaknesses in Howie and Woods' study. These factors provide ample sources of explanation for Howie and Woods' failure to demonstrate benefits from their token reinforcement system.
Behavior Therapy↗
The effects of self-evaluation training on maintenance and generalization during stuttering treatment.
Training in self-evaluation of speech performance was combined with a self-managed, performance-contingent maintenance schedule during the treatment of two young adult stutterers. A multiple baseline design was used to investigate the effect of introducing this procedure to a variety of speaking situations. Covert and overt assessment indicated that whenever the self-evaluation training procedure was introduced to the maintenance schedule, it was associated with substantially reduced stuttering which was sustained over a period of at least six months across speaking situations. Some implications of these findings for treatment and self-management research are discussed.
Adolescent↗
A further analysis for developmental apraxia of speech in children with defective articulation.
This paper reports a further analysis of behaviors that might distinguish developmental apraxia of speech from "functional" defective articulation. Closely following a study of Yoss and Darley, 30 children with moderately-to-severely defective articulation but with normal hearing, intelligence, and language development and with no apparent organic etiology for their disability were matched with a normal-speaking control group. Both groups were given Yoss and Darley's battery of speech and nonspeech tasks. Yoss and Darley's analysis procedure was applied to the data. Their finding of significant differences between the control group and the defective articulation group across five nonspeech tasks proved to be true for ony two of the speech and nonspeech tasks in this study. Following division of the defective articulation group on the basis of isolated volitional oral and movement scores, Yoss and Darley had conducted discriminant function analyses of the data, resulting in combinations of speech and nonspeech variables that significantly differentiated the two subgroups. Neurologic ratings figured prominently as a distinguishing variable. A similar comparison in this study did not find a combination of variables which differentiated the two subgroups with any confidence. The implication of these findings and some possible reasons for the differences between the findings of the studies are discussed.
Age Factors↗
Modification of maintenance and generalization during stuttering treatment.
A procedure designed to maintain and generalize the gains achieved during a stuttering treatment was assessed. A performance-contingent schedule of decreasing within-clinic assessments was evaluated when it was programmed with either contingent or noncontingent schedule conditions. The effect of these schedules on stuttering was assessed within BAB and ABA experimental conditions which were applied to nine stutterers divided into two groups. Assessments were made on the speech behavior of subjects within and outside of clinic conditions as well as covertly. The percentage of syllables stuttered and syllable-per-minute data from both groups of subjects indicated that the performance-contingent schedule was associated with both maintained and generalized reductions in stuttering. The clinical validity of this finding is limited, however, because covert assessment data were consistent with outside-clinic performance for only six of the nine subjects.
Adolescent↗
Comment on "stuttering therapy: the relation between attitude change and long-term outcome".
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Attitude↗
A further evaluation of the speech of stutterers during chorus- and nonchorus-reading conditions.
The claim that stutterers change their customary way of speaking during chorus-reading conditions was assessed in a single subject experimental design on the speech of three stutterers. A number of pairs of speech samples of identical prose were obtained from chorus- and nonchorus-reading conditions for each stutterer. Observers judged whether the pairs were composed of samples drawn from same (chorus/chorus or nonchorus/nonchorus) or different (chorus/nonchorus) oral reading conditions. The findings aligned with those obtained in an earlier group study. They indicated that there may be changes in the speech pattern of some stutterers during chorus-reading conditions, but this change may not occur in the speech pattern of all stutterers who respond to chorus reading conditions.
Adolescent↗
Perceptual assessment of normalcy of speech following stuttering therapy.
Stuttering therapy procedures such as rhythmic or prolonged speech have been criticized because afterward the subject may speak fluently but also abnormally. Although assessments of the normalcy of speech behavior have been rare, some recent procedures have included perceptual assessments of certain dimensions of speech behavior. This study reports an evaluation procedure where listeners endeavored to distinguish between intermingled speech samples obtained from treated stutterers and a peer group of normally fluent speakers. Different groups of listeners were asked to judge the prosody, rate, fluency, and naturalness of posttreatment samples from a group of stutterers treated with a prolonged speech procedure, and a matched peer group of noramlly fluent speakers. No significant differences were found between the assessments of stutters and normally fluent speakers. However, when another group of listeners was asked to decide whether the speech samples were from treated stutters or normal speakers, the stutters received significantly fewer normal speaker judgements. Interrelationships between the judgment scales were evaluated along with a forced-choice procedure for assessing the normalcy of individual speech samples.
Adolescent↗