Effects of Dual-Task Induced Cognitive Load on the Production of Disfluencies of Non-Stuttering Speakers and Persons Who Stutter
Résumé
The objective of the present study is to investigate whether inducing cognitive load through a simultaneous secondary task has similar effects on the production of disfluencies across persons who stutter (PWS) and persons who do not stutter (PWNS). We analysed the speech production of 8 adult PWNS and 7 adult PWS. Participants were asked to memorise fairy tales and retell them under three conditions: no dual-task, motor dual-task and cognitive dual task. Disfluencies were annotated and classified as stuttering-like or non-pathological. The findings indicate that, under the dual-task conditions, there was an increase of long silent pauses and no significant effect regarding the absolute and relative frequency of disfluencies.