Speech Motor Dynamics in Stuttering

The last five to ten years have shown a remarkable increase in research which tries to uncover the dynamics of speech motor processes behind fluent and dysfluent speech. This book presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art picture of recent developments and future directions in theory and research in speech motor control and physiological mechanisms in stuttering. Leading authorities present and discuss the main theories of speech motor control in speech and stuttering, i.e. action theory, programming models, and the multilevel control model. The broad scope of recent developments in research in speech motor coordination using simultaneous measurements is described. New methods in recording and processing speech motor processes and the acoustical signal are presented in more detail (i.e. brain electrical mapping technique, X-ray micro beam pellet tracking technique, and procedures in acoustical analysis). Much attention is devoted to progress in methodological approaches by tutorial papers on the relationship between acoustical measures, physiological parameters and chapters on the methodological aspects of simultaneous measurements. The problems in studying young stutterers's speech production are also discussed at length.