Speech Motor Skill and Stuttering

ABSTRACT

The authors review converging lines of evidence from behavioral, kinematic, and neuroimaging data that point to limitations in speech motor skills in people who stutter (PWS). From their review, they conclude that PWS differ from those who do not in terms of their ability to improve with practice and retain practiced changes in the long term, and that they are less efficient and less flexible in their adaptation to lower (motor) and higher (cognitive–linguistic) order requirements that impact on speech motor functions. These findings in general provide empirical support for the position that PWS may occupy the low end of the speech motor skill continuum as argued in the Speech Motor Skills approach (Van Lieshout, Hulstijn, & Peters, 2004).

Keywords:

• sensory feedback
• speech motor control
• speech motor skill
• stuttering

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank James Le and Lauren Greenwood for their assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. Part of this research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canada and the Canada Research Chairs Program (both awarded to Pascal van Lieshout).

Notes

Civier et al. (2010) and Max et al. (2004) refer to dependency or dominance of auditory feedback in the control of speech.