Speech Motor Dynamics in Stuttering

The present book arose from a conference on Speech Motor Dynamics in Stuttering held at the University of Nijmegen in Nijmegen, the Netherlands from June 13-15, 1985. The conference was organized on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Department of Speech Pathology of the University Hospital. The topic selected for the conference and now developed within this book, Speech Motor Dynamics in Stuttering, was judged to be particularly timely and especially relevant to an emerging body of work on stuttering. For over ten years there had been no confer- ences that brought together researchers who have worked on stuttering from perspectives stressing the dynamics of motor processes. Yet during that time major changes have occurred in research on stuttering which signify a growing level of scientific maturity within the problem area. This book attempts to character- ize a number of major trends in research on speech motor processes in stuttering. There has been a lessening in the postulation of causes of stuttering in the form of global hypothesis which have tenuous ties to empi rical data. New ideas about speech motor processes in stuttering have been stimulated by researchers who have done productive work on more general issues of motor control. This book therefore directs our attention to a number of models of speech production which are relevant to stuttering.