Influence of attention capture on disfluent speech under delayed auditory feedback among adults who stutter

摘要

It is classically known that speech disfluencies occur under delayed auditory feedback (DAF) among adults who do not stutter (AWNS) [1]. Although the underlying mechanisms of disfluent speech by DAF remain unclear, one potential explanation is the involvement of auditory attention toward their delayed voice [2,3]. Ishida et al. [3] conducted a dual task experiment (speech and reaction tasks) under DAF with AWNS and revealed an increase in speech disfluencies when the participants allocated their attention toward the auditory stimulus. In contrast, some adults who stutter (AWS) showing a fluency disorder characterized by frequent word or part-word repetition, prolongation, and silent blocks that disrupt the rhythmic flow of speech [4] decrease their disfluent speech under DAF [5]. Previous literature has suggested the role of abnormal processing of auditory feedback in stuttering [6,7]. However, similar to AWNS, some AWS show increased speech disfluency under DAF [8]. It is proposed that there exists a subgroup of AWS because the stuttering severity of those AWS whose speech disfluencies are increased under DAF has been shown to be relatively mild compared with those who decrease speech disfluencies under DAF [8]. However, it remains unclear whether the mechanism of speech disfluency occurrence in AWS with mild severity could be similar to that of AWNS.