Characteristic Features of Single-Syllable Word Repetitions in Preschool Children Who Stutter and Controls

Melanie van Ark, Patricia Sandrieser, Ulrich Natke, Reinhard Pietrowsky and Karl Theodor Kalveram
Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf Universitatsstr. 1, 40225 Diisseldozf Germany

SUMMARY

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in single-syllable word repetitions between preschool children who stutter and children who do not stutter. The participants of this study were 24 children aged 2.1 to 5.0 years who stutter and a control group matched in sex and age. Audio- and videotaped speech samples consisting of at least 1000 syllables were analysed regarding frequency, number of repetition units, and pause duration of single-syllable word repetitions. Results showed that frequency and number of iterations of single-syllable word repetitions differentiate the two groups, and that the group of children who stutter produced significantly shorter single-syllable word repetitions than the control group.
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